
Classii£.T4^ 



GopyrightN?. 



COPYRIGHT DEFOSrr. 



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S. D. BUTCHER'S 



PIONFER HISTORY OF 
CUSTER COUNTY 



AND SHORT 

SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS 

IN NEBRASKA 




BROKEN BOW, NEBRASKA 



COPYRIGHTED BY 

SOLOMON D. BUTCHER AND EPHR.VIM S. FINCH 

1901 



THE LIBRARV OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two CortES Received 

lUN. 28 1901 

COPYfilOHT ENTRY 

CLASS O^ XXa N». 
COPY B. 



IPrliicafiinL 



To the i'ioueers of (Jiis^ler County, that noble band of men and women 

who blazed a pathway into the wilderness, who battled against the elements 

and subdued the forces of Nature in order that the blessings of civilization 

and enlightenment might be established in this portion of the Great American 

Desert, this work is respectfully dedicated. 

THE PUBLISHER. 



ENGRAVINGS BY 

THK WII.LIAMSON-HAFFNER ENGRAVING CO. 

DENVER, COLORADO 



PRINTING AND BINDING BY 

THE MERCHANTS Pl'BLlSHING CO. 

STATIONERS 

DENVER, COLORADO 



IVit\2K. 



Pase. 

Dedication 2 

Preface 3 

An Ode to Custer County 5 

Organization of Custer County 7 

Cattle Industry in Ranch Days IT 

Old Settler's Story 31 

The Mitchell and Ketchum Tragedy 43 

Blazing a Pathway and Personal Pioneer Experiences 63 

Jess Gandy's Reminiscences of Early Days in Custer County, Neb 81 

Hunting Buffalo on the Great Plains 85 

Held Up by Jack Nolan 93 

Judge William Gaslin 108 

Settlement of New Helena 113 

jixploits of Dick Milton 119 

The Coyote 133 

f earch for the Silver Medal 135 

An Old Settler's Story 143 

The Killing of Two Cowboys at Anselmo 154 

The Province Tragedy IGO 

A Cowboy's Story 167 

Playing Dick Milton 172 

Brighton Ranch 176 

Freezing of Trapper in Powell Canon 182 

Tearing Down of Settler's Houses by Cowboys 185 

Tailing Up a Texas Cow 186 

Clear Creek 188 

History of Broken Bow 189 

Shooting of John Sanderson 208 

We Now Cross the Custer County Line 208 

Westerville 214 

Hunting Wild Horses 218 

Lynching of Kid Wade in 1884 221 

Douglass Grove Township 232 

Incidents of Douglass Grove 238 

Lee's Park 242 

West Union Precinct 246 

The Haunstine Tragedy 253 

Mike O'Rafferty as a Cowboy 263 

Callaway 271 



jl INDEX. 

Page. 

Ansley ^ 'f^ 

Sargent "^^^ 

Early Experiences in Sargent Precinct 298 

Pioneer Settlement of Sargent 301 

Anselmo '^^ 

Killing of Arnold and Capture of Bohannan 311 

Terrible Fall in a Deep Well 314 

Redfern Table 317 

Early Settlers West of Broken Bow 323 

Calloway Protestant Episcopal Church 325 

Mason City 327 

Arnold 335 

Settlement of Cliflf Table 336 

Dead Man's Canon 337 

Oconto 338 

Comstock 3.39 

Settlement of Dale Valley 342 

St. Andrew's Catholic Church, Dale 344 

Rev. Thomas P. Haley 347 

How Custer Center Church Was Built 349 

Christian Church, Broken Bow 350 

Church of God 352 

Sunday Schools in Custer County 354 

Lone Star Sunday School ". 357 

Some Early Sunday Schools 358 

United Brethren in Christ 359 

Newspapers of Custer County 360 

Lillian Township 365 

Lillian Precinct 368 

Hogs on the Ranch 371 

Arkansas Bob in the Well 373 

Settlement of Georgetown 375 

Winter of 1880 on the South Loup 380 

Spencer Park 382 

Methodist Church, Calloway 384 

Custer County Agricultural Society 387 

The Oxley Trial 389 

Irrigation in Custer County 391 

The Dairying Industry 392 

Swine Raising 394 

Raising Horses for Profit 396 

Douglas Grove Irrigation Ditch 397 

A Trip Through the Sand Hills 399 

Advertisements — 

Union Pacific Railroad, 

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. 

Union Stock Vards, Omaha. 



JBr^facc. 



To My Fik'iids and I'ations: 

As yoii tuiu the ])a^es of this book and see the familiar landmarks of 
former years, you will beuin to ap]>reeiate the endeavors of the man who. for 
lifteen years, has labored against many difficulties, and is at last able to 
place in your hands a trnthfnl history of i)ioneer life in (>uster county. It 
will be doubly interestinji' to many of you. because you have helped supply 
the material from which it is nuule. while new arrivals will read with inter- 
est these anecdotes and reminiscences and short, thrilling stories of the 
fMunch^rs of this county, their numy trials ad hardships endured while braving 
the elements in the howling blizzards of winter, the scorching suns of the 
drought i)eriod and devastation by grassho])pers. All tend to make it a most 
renmrkable book, and every one will have the satisfaction of knowing he is 
reading truth and not following the wild imagination of the novelist. 

We make no apology in ])lacing this book before the public. We have 
tried honestly to get facts from every source jtossible. If we have failed to 
do so in some cases, it has been the fault of our informants and not inten- 
tional on our part. AN'e submit it just as it is. and it must stand or fall on 
its merits as a historical jn-oduction. We ha\e in some cases used fictitious 
names, w^here we thought i)roper to do so. as it would not detract materially 
from the interest of the history. The old pioneers will have no difficulty iu 
following the career of noted characters as well under one name as another. 
While we must, as a true historian, chronicle Custer county's history, we do 
not care to give a man who nuiy be trying to live honestly and atone for past 
misdeeds undue notoriety by disclosing his true name. 

We thank those gentlemen who have kindly furnished us articles over 
their own signatures, besides the many pioneers who have furnished us man- 
uscript to be boiled down and which is made the foundation on which our 
history rests. And last, but not least, we wish to thank the man who has 
come to our aid financially, when the clouds seemed to be blackest and most 
gloomy, and our book had again almost come to a standstill for want of means 



to push it to success. How glad it made our heart wlien Uncle Swain Finch 
said: "Butch, vou have worked faithfully and deserve success, and if the 
people of Custer county want a history, by George, they shall have it." May 
the name of E. S. Finch be handed down to generations yet unborn as a 
great philanthropist — one of God's noblemen — who just "growed" like Topsy. 

If, in looking over the pages of this book, you find a fuller description of 
son:e other portion of the county than of your own, pause before criticising 
the historian and ask if it is not your own fault that you are not more fully 
represented. If you have done any great deeds in Custer county which are 
worthy to go down in history, was it not your duty to have them recorded? 

In conclusion, I wish also to express my obligations to George B. Mair, 
editor of the Callaway Courier, for valuable assistance rendered through his 
paper, and as editor and compiler of the manuscript, rough notes and sketches 
collected by me for this work. 

Yours respectfully, 

S. D. BUTCHER. 



:2. 



Jftn BtiB fu Olusfin- Oliiunfy, 



MRS. C. H. CARLOS. 



We praise, thee, fair Custer county, 

Whose fame is often snug, 
^^'hose story of dearth and bounty 

Is toUl in every tontine; 
Whose liills like infant mountains rise 

'Twixt canons dark and deep, 
Wliere, .glinting "neath the blnest skies, 

Wikl rushing torrents sweep; 
^^llere tiny streams in silence wend 

Their way thro' valleys green, 
Where sun and shade their powers lend 

To beautify the scene. 

Land where fierce roaring blizzards hide 

And cj^clones find a home, 
Where soft winds stray o'er prairies wide. 

And zephyrs gently roam; 
Where nature dwells in calm or storm. 

In shade, or sunshine fair. 
In genial climate mild and warm. 

In pure, health-giving air; 
Where hills, and streams, and valleys ring 

With the same unending story. 
And every breeze comes whispering 

Of Custer county's glory. 

They tell of wealth that lightly sleeps 

Within thy fertile soil. 
Which into life and being leaps. 

Touched by the hand of toil ; 
They tell of a wide open door. 

In a fair, fruitful land. 
Where, beck'ning to the lowly poor. 

Health, peace and comfort stand. 
They send a message to mankind. 

An offering of bounty. 
Bidding him come and welcome find 

In glorious Custer county. 

Be thy worth told in thunder's voice. 

Or zephyr's softest strain. 
Still will the heart of man rejoice 

And join the sweet refrain. 
Then let us now our voices raise 

And help to swell the sound; 
We'll sing thy merits and thy praise 

'Till all the hills resound. 
We praise thee for each changing scene. 

And for thy endless bounty: 
We crown thee now Xoi-thwesteiii (^)ueen 
O. fairest Custer countv. 




^:!W<^^<o%^ 




l^viiantjafiini nf (EiiBter QlDuufy< 



J. J. DOUGLASS. 



In uiideitakiiiu to write au article npou the early settlement and organ- 
ization of Custer county, I realize my inability to do the matter justice; but as 
one of the earliest settlers, I may be able to say a word or two that will be 
of interest to the reader. Those who have grown to manhood and woman- 
hood since the county was organized have but a faint idea of the hardships 





.J. J. DOUGLASS 



MRS. J. J. DOUGLASS 



and trials that were enduied and overcome by those who blazed the way for 
others to follow and reap the benefit. The (^arly settlers of Custer county 
had not only to battle against the hungry "wolf at the door/" but they had to 
measure swords with the Indian and the cowboy as well. The early history 
of the county is a record of liloodshed and murder — so much so. in fact, that 
the term, "dark and l)loody ground," applied to the state of Kentucky, would 
not be less a]i})ropriate for Custer county. 

This ])ortion of the state, as is well known, abounds in nntrilious grasses, 
is well watered with numerous streams, many of tliem fed by springs, making 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



it a perfect paradise for cattlemen as a range for their vast herds. On a reg- 
ular cow ranch von never found any women. They would always have a 
man to do the cooking, and I must say that some of the ranch cooks under- 
stood their business and could get up a repast fit for a king — a cattle king 
at that. Ranchmen, like miners, coal diggers, etc., were clannish to a degree, 
and while they were liberal and generous to a fault among themselves, if an 
outsider stepped in and attempted to interfere in any of their matters a 
(juietus was quickly put on him. As the saying is: they were always ready 
to fight for each other. Many laughable incidents would often occur, espe- 
cially on the spring round-up, when all hands turned out with horses, grub 
wagon, blankets, and all the other appurtenances of ranch life, to be gone 
generally about six weeks, traveling over hundreds of miles of country and 
enjoying the freedom of a life on the plains. While there was any amount 
of hard work to do, yet the boys always found time for having sport. Their 
failing was often a love for firewater, which they no doubt inherited from 
the aborigines who had preceded them as lords of the domain, and conse- 
quently it was quite natural that they should always be looking around for 
*'a wee drap o' the crayther." In the spring of 1876. while camped at Burr 
Oak, a Mr. Wood came into camp with a load of provisions for a stage station 
on the Middle Loup river, about sixty miles above the mouth of the Dismal 
river. In those days the}^ hauled everything from Kearney into that upper 
country along the old stage line to the Black Hills. During the night the boys 
concluded they would inspect the old man's load and see what it contained, 
when they discovered a five-gallon keg of whisky. They immediately confis- 
cated the liquor and set 'em up to the whole round-up. The reader can easily 
guess the rest. Several of the boys took a day's lay-off, the better to enjoy 
the spree, and everybody was happy. 

Each outfit would have some man who was an expert in some particular 
line, and challenges would be passed from one to the other and much money 
put up as wagers. The cowboys, as a general thing, were averse to hoarding 
money, and next to earning it, their chief concern was how and where to 
spend it. Yet these rough and big-hearted fellows were not all toughs. Many 
of them were men of education, refinement and high attainments in many lines. 
Some of them have since been able and useful members of the Legislature, while 
many others have become noted in other directions. Colonel Codj^ Major North, 
Buck Taylor, John Shores and others I could name, who were cowpunchers at 
the time I write, have since attained national if not world-wide fame. 
Speaking of Major North reminds me that he had a sorrel horse that was a 
winner, especially when ridden by the major himself. He said he could get 
more run out of the horse than anv one else, and when the horse was put up 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



for a race the major ahvays insisted upon riding it himself. He was an 
interesting character, always wore the old-fashioned leggings, like our grand- 
fathers wore — a^vay above his knees — a broad-brimmed white hat, a hacka- 
more on hiS horse in place of a bridle, and invariably carried a small Indian 
qnirt. He was a noted Indian tighter and commanded the Pawnees in several 
of theii- campaigns against their- hereditary enemies, the Sioux. Buffalo Bill 
was another character who has since become known the world over. He 
was a liberal felloAv, never cared to lay up money, said he always believed in 
keeping it in circulation, always carried plenty to drink and smoke, and quite 
frequently set 'em up to the round-up. One spring, seeing that he was going 
to run short of liquor, he sent his wagon to North Platte to replenish the 
store. On the way to the Platte the team becoming tired out, the boys saw 
a pair of stray mules not far distant, caught them and hitched them to the 
wagon. On their return they were met by Dan Haskell and Jim Harris, who 
pretended the mules belonged to them, and that they had been hunting for 
them. They represented that the mules had strayed away from their ranch 
near the Dismal, and let on they were very angry because the boys had caught 
them and were using them. They threatened to have the boys arrested for 
stealing the mules, and the young fellows, in order to placate Dan and Jim, 
and avoid further trouble, gave them all the whisky they could drink out of 
Buffalo Bill's keg, and supplied them with cigars enough to last them a week. 

For years in the '70's an old feud existed in Texas between the Olives 
and another outfit engaged in the ranging of cattle. This feud became hotter 
and hotter, until in the summer of 1876 it came to a head. While the Olives 
were branding and rounding up cattle the other outfit came up on them in 
the night while they were asleep on the ground near the ranch and opened 
fire on the Olives and their men with guns loaded with buckshot. The Olive 
outfit got their guns as (luickly as possible and stood the enemy a stiff fight 
in the darkness. The result was one of the Olive boys was killed and one 
of their men, named Butler, was severely wounded. The cattle were turned 
out of the corral and the ranch house set on fire. In 1877 the Olives moved 
their vast herds, consisting of about 15,000 head of cattle, to the Dismal river 
in Nebraska. They kept them there one winter and in 1878 opened up their 
South Loup ranch on a school section about four miles down the river from 
the present site of Callaway. 

At the time of which I have been writing this was unorganized territory. 
Custer county had not yet come into existence, and Broken Bow, Callaway, 
Ansley and the other towns with which we are now so familiar, had not even 
been dreamed of. It was thought by the cattlemen that this country would 
never be settled up, but would forever remain a range for cattle. It may be 



10 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

proper to say here that pi-operty in the imoiiiaiiized territory was assessed 
and taxed bv tlie next county to the east of it. As the taxes collected were 
expended in the improvement of the county by which they were collected, 
the cattlemen of this territory concluded that it would be a good thin<>; to 
have a bi^ cattle county orjjanized, so that they could get some benefit out 
of any taxes they might pay, and be better able to protect themselves against 
cattle thieves and other lawless men who infested the country. Several at- 
tempts had been made to organize a county out of this tenritory, an account 
of which will be found in other articles in this book, but it was not until the 
year 1877 that the present county was formed. In the Legislature of 1877 
the Hon. J. H. MacColl of Plum Creek introduced the following bill, which 
was passed and received the signature of Governor Garber: 
An Act to Define the Boundaries of Custer County. 

Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Nebraska: 

Section 1. That all that portion of the state of Nebraska commencing at 
the southeast corner of township thirteen (18), north of range seventeen (17), 
west of the sixth principal meridian, thence north to the northeast corner of 
township twenty (20), north of range seventeen (17), west, thence west to the 
iiortliwest corner of township twenty (20), north of range twenty-five west, 
tlience south to the southwest corner of township thirteen (13), north of range 
twenty-live (25) west, thence east to place of b(^ginning, shall constitute the 
county of Cnster. 

Approved February 17, 1877. 

The writer does not know who is entitled to the distinction of naming 
the new county, but it was named "Custer" in honor of the gallant Indian 
tighter who perished with all his command at the memorable battle on the 
Mttle Big Horn the summer previous. 

In May a petition was sent to Governor Garber, signed by most of the 
cattlemen of the county, asking for the ai)])()intment of temporary officers 
to complete the organization of the county, as follows: 

To the Honorable Silas Garber, Governor of the State of Nebraska: 

We, the undersigned, inhabitants of Custer county, Nebraska, and tax- 
payers therein, petition you to appoint and commission James Gasmann, 
Anton Abel and H, C. Stuckey as special county commissioners, and Frank 
H. Young as special county clerk of said county for the purpose of forming 
a permanent organization for said county, and that you will appoint and 
declare the southeast quarter of section 23, in township 1~) north, range 22 
west, as the temporary county seat of said county, and for this we will ever 
pray. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 1 1 



(Sifjnedi Frank H. Youiig^, ^I. F. Youii"', James (1. (lasinann. W. T. H. 
Tucker. H. C. Stuckev, Deninaii Fritt. Pliil Dnfrand, Anton Abel, E. J. Rob- 
lits, James Paxton. A. H. Wise, T. M. Jameson, Kefi;inald McKee. Enimett 
V. Filer, Nate Fuller, J. J. Dou<;lass. V. W. O'Brien. A. B. Bradney, W. W 
Wattles, I. O. Child, W. H. Kilf,nire. Joshua Wood, S. C. Stuckey, Louis 
Wambsgan. 

STATE OF NEBRASKA.] 

County of Dawson. ^ss. 

Personally appeared before me, a notary public in and for Dawson county. 

Nebraska. James P. Paxton, Frank H. Youn.n' and James Oasmann, who. 

being duly sworn, depose and say that they are resident freeholders in the 

county of Custer and state of Nebraska, that such county eontains a population 

of not less than 200 inhabitants, and that ten or more of sueh inhabitants are 

taxpayers, and further they say not. 

JAMES P. PAXTON, 

FRANK H. YOUNG, 

JAMES GASMANN. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, 1877. 
(Seal) H. O. SMPrH. Notary Public. 

The following letters and recommendations from prominent citizens of 
Da\yson county wei-e forwarded with the petition to the goyernor. and may 
be interesting as a part of this history: 

Office of the Clerk of County and District Courts. Dawson county. 

Plum Creek. Neb.. June 14. 1S77. 
His Excellency, Silas Crarber, Lincoln, Neb.: 

Dear Sir — Several of the citizens of Custer county haye been speaking 
to me about the organization of that county and desire me to write to you 
about the matter. There is quite a large amount of personal property owned 
by the citizens of that territory, and under the present status it is under the 
control of no one. One-half of the county is in this judicial district, and the 
other in the Sixth. :Mr. Young, a resident of that county, will call upon you 
for the purpose of seeing about the matter, and will explain the situation to 
you. I feel like accommodating them if it can be done. Please let me know 
the situation. Yours, etc., C. J. DILWORTH. 

Plum Creek, Neb.. June L'o, 1877. 
Governor Garber, Lincoln, Neb.: 

Sir— I am acquainted with a great many of the residents of Custer county 
and they all are very anxious to be in running order, and it would be a great 



12 PIONEER HISTOKY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



help in stopping' the cattle and liorse stealing. I am personally acqnainted for 
a long time with F. H. Yonng, and can recommend him in every respect. 

R. F. JAMES. Sheriff Dawson County, Nebraska. 
We have read the statement of Mr. James and believe it true in every 
particular. 

H. T. HEDGES. P. M. 

E. S. STT^CKEY. Countv Treasurer. 

H. O. SMITH, Deputv Sheriff. 

T. L. WARRINGTON, Attornev at Law. 

W. H. LENGEL, Countv Clerk. 

R. B. PIERCE. County Judge. 

Plum Creek, Neb., June 23. 1S77. 
Hon. Silas Garber. Lincoln, Nebraska: 

Dear Sir — Enclosed find letters from the county officers in regard to 
Custer county. Mr. MacColl is absent and will not be back for about two 
weeks; the other officers all signed the papers. I would like to get the commis- 
sion by return mail, if jjossible, as I am in a hurry to get out to Custer county 
to look after my calves, as it is time to brand them. Hoping you will give 
this your earlj^ attention. I remain, yours respectfully, 

FRANK H. YOUNG. 

The governor, on the 2Tth day of June, issued the following proclamation, 
wliicli launched Custer county on its glorious career: 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, A large number of the citizens of the unorganized county of 
Custer have united in a petition asking that the said county be organized, 
and that James Gasmann, Anton Abel and H. C. Stuckey be appointed special 
county commissioners, and Frank H. Young be appointed special county clerk 
of said county, for the purpose of forming a permanent organization, and that 
Lhe southeast quarter of section twenty-three, in township fifteen north, range 
twenty-two west, be designated as the temporary county seat of said county of 
Ouster, and it appearing that the said county contains a population of not less 
than two hundred inhabitants, and ten or more of said petitioners are tax- 
payers and residents of said county: 

Now, therefore, I, Silas Garber, governor of the state of Nebraska, in 
accordance with the memorial of said petitioners, and under and by the au- 
thority in me vested and in pursuance of the statute in such cases made 
and provided, do declare said county to be temporarily organized for the pur- 
pose of permanent organization, and do appoint and commission the persons 
above named as the special county commissioners, and the said person above 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



13 




Fiiat Castor Touuty Court House. 



named as special county clerk of said county, and do declare the place above 
named and described as tbe temporary county seat of said county. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused to be 
affixed the g'reat seal of the state of Nebraska. 

Done at Lincoln, the cajjital, this twenty-seventh day of June, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, and of the inde- 
.pendence of the United States the one hundred and first, and of this state 
the eleventh. SILAS GARBER. 

By the Governor: BRUNO TSGHUCK, Secretary of State. 

During the summer various meetings were held on the South Loup, and 
in November the following first officers of Custer county were elected: County 
commissioners, James Gassman, Anton Abel, William Kilgore; county judge, 
Wilson Hewitt; county treasurer, S. C. Stuckey; county clerk. Reginald 
Tucker; sheriff, Joshua Woods; coroner, Al Wise; surveyor, J. M. Benedict; 
count}^ superintendent, E. D. Eubank. Through some irregularity in the 
returns the election of the county clerk was not considered legal, and Frank 
H. Young, the temporary clerk, held over. At that time there were three 
voting places in the county, all of them being on the South Loup river. For 



14 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



several years the cattlemen had evervthiny,- their own war, but witli the influx 
of homesteaders the cattlemen were soon outnumbered, and by 1880 were rep- 
resented by a minority on the board of commissioners. 

One of the interesting- characters of this region at that time was Louis 
Wambsgan. one of the vevy earliest settlers, who located near where Oconto 
uow^ stands. His house was the only stopping place for a number of years 
between Plum creek and the South Loup, and there was hardly a night the 
3'ear around but that two or three cowboys could not be found at "Louie's," 
as he was familiarly called. He could always furnish sport for the boys in 
some waj', and his annual turkey shoots during the holidays became famous 
throughout this region. 1 have heard many a good story told under Louie's 
hospitable roof. 




Frederick Schreyer, first Homesteader in Triumph Tp. Settled 1875. 



Frederick Schreyer was another interesting character. He was the first 
homesteader on the South Loup between Callaway and Arnold. He was a 
very resolute German, about fifty years of age, and as eccentric as he was res- 
olute. He constructed a dugout in which he imagined he would be secure 
from the depredations of the festive cowboy. As we have said before, there 
was a natural antipathy between the cowboys and the settlers and the breach 
became wider and wider as time passed by and the settlers became moie nu- 
merous. Armed encounters were frequent and bloodshed was often the result. 
Schreyer often had encounters with the cowboys and at one time was 
wounded in two places. He thought he was going- to die, and had Charles 
Kockwood draw up his will. He had a ford near his house which he called 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 15 

his ford, and nobody was allowed to cross the river at that place if he could 
prevent it. without his consent. He also surrounded his house with a high 
sod wall which he called liis fortihcations. On the niornino; of April 1. 1878, 
J. D. Haskell and the writer ])nt some tools in a wagon and went up the river 
to repair a corral. In going we crossed the river at Sclireyer's ford. We saw 
nothing of him at that time, but during the day he sent us word that if we 
attempted to cross there in coming bade he would shoot us. When we 
arrived at the ford on the way back, and wliile watering our horses, we saw 
Schreyer and his son running toward the house witli guns. As soon as we 
got within range they raised up from behind their fortifications and began 
firing at us. We were unarmed, and thinking discretion the better part 
of valor, put the whip to our team and got out of the w^ay. In our flight 
we had to pass pretty close to the house, and one of the shots tore the step 
from the side of the wagon. From that time on there was trouble. Young 
Schreyer was arrested on the Platte, but escaped and went to Lincoln, w'here 
he remained a nu)nth. He came back to Kearney, was again arrested and 
brought up into Custer county. He and his father were taken, handcuffed, 
to Custer for preliminary examination, and were bound over to appear before 
the District Court. Not giving bonds, they were lodged in the Plum Creek 
Jail. In July they were tried and sentenced to serve a term in jail by Judge 
Gaslin. They served out their time and got home the next winter. 

The war between the homesteaders and the cattlemen continued for some 
years, but at last the large herds were compelled to remove farther west where 
free range was more plentiful and homesteaders scarce. After being in pos- 
session of this country for twelve years, they, like the Indian, were compelled 
to give it up to more advanced civilization. Stockmen who had traveled over 
the plains between here and Texas said this was the best country for ranging 
stock to be found anywhere in the United States. No wonder, then, that they 
made such a hard struggle to retain it. \Miere once roamed tliousands of 
buffalo and afterwards thousands of cattle we noAv see the locomotive 
steaming along the valleys. The country is now dotted over with beautiful 
farms and the ground that was once used for bedding down cattle in immense 
herds is now occupied by the village of Callaway. 

Relics of unusual interest have at ditferent times been found in this 
country. In the sunmier of 1880, while riding on the Middle Loup, with 
others, we came to a bed of charred wood near where the Milburn bridge now 
crosses that stream. A number of beads were scattered about, and upon 
closer examination we found among the coals the under jaw of a man, and 
also a silver medal two and a half inches in diameter with a hole in it. On 
one side was the bust of a man, with the name, "Pierre Choteau,"" under it. 




CO g 






o'-a 



CO 03 



AND SHORT SKECTHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 17 



while on the other side were the words: "Upper Missouri Outfit." Our sup- 
position was that some Indian ti-ader had been in that country trading beads 
and other trinkets to the Indians for furs, and that they had gotten into a 
quarrel and that the savages had killed and burned the trader. 



(HafflB 3iitmitfry in KancI; ^ay^. 



H. M. SULLIVAN. 

In the early settlement of Custer county, there was but one occupation 
of sufficient importance to raise it to the dignity that would justify it being 
designated a business. This was the cattle industry. While the area of 
Custer county, then, as now, was 2,592 square miles, or larger than the state 
of Delaware, and more than twice the area of Rhode Island, still, this vast 
area was claimed by a few ranchmen who in a way occupied the greater part 
of it. 

The great advantages of this county as a grazing country first began to 
attract attention in 18G9. 

Texas was then the greatest breeding ground for cattle and horses in the 
United States, and probably in the world, but it was without means of trans- 
portation and the stockman was compelled to trail his cattle many hundred 
miles from there to the railroad. 

The principal shipping point in Nebraska for the l*anhandle territory was 
Ogalalla. The cattle were brought to this point by the thousands. There 
were probably at times as many as 100,000 cattle held on the ranges in the 
country surrounding Ogalalla, awaiting shipment and sale. Many cattle 
brought to the railroad from Texas w'ere wintered in the adjacent territory 
because they could not be shipped or disposed of to advantage. 

While holding cattle for these purposes the great advantages of Custer 
county as a stock country were discovered and soon became generally known. 
Not all the ranchmen locating in Custer county, however, came from the 
South and West. Some came from Iowa and farther east. But shortly after 
the discovery of its advantages as a grazing ground, Custer county, with its 
numerous, constant streams of pure water, its valleys of hay land and its 
hills of splendid grazing land, became the mecca of the cattleman. Prior to 
1872 it was practically unoccupied. 



18 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



111 the wiutt'i- (if 1N(>;» and 1870 one Captain Streeter for the first time 
wintered cattle in the territory now comprising Custer county. He turned out 
in the fall on Ash creek, a short distance south of Broken Bow. 821 cattle, of 
which 385 were yearlings. They were all Texas cattle; the following spring he 
rounded up 819, a loss of only two head. 

In 1872. what was known as the Tucker ranch. E. J. Boblitz, owner, 
where Tuckeryille now is, Stuckey's ranch, Childs B. Herrington's and Anton 
■Abel's ranches were located in the eastern half of the South Loup valley. 
Shortly after this, below them on the South Loup riyer, were Im-ated tht- 
ranches of Williams & Kilgore and John Myers. 

In 1872 John Harrington, a cattleman from Texas, located a ranch eight 
miles northwest of the point where Callaway is now located, and he turned 
out 2,000 head of cattle. 

In 1875 Finch Bros, located on the South Loup at the point where he 
now resides. 

In 1876 Edward Holway and J. D. Haskell occupied the same ranch 
formerly located by Harrington, and this ranch was afterwards sold to the 
Parker Live Stock Company of Illinois. The range claimed by those owning 
this ranch was the South Loup yalley from Triumph west to Cedar canon 
and the territory north adjoining. 

The Parker Liye Stock Company first came to the county in 1870 and 
located its headquarters at a point about two miles west of Callaway, and 
claimed as its range what is now known as Sand yalley and the territory lying 
south and west thereof. This company began with 1,500 head of cattle. J. J. 
Douglas, afterwards clerk of the District Conrt of this county, was the man- 
ager. 

In 1876 Durfee & Gasman located a ranch a short distance north of Calla- 
way on the north side of the Loup at what is known as the Big Spring, on 
the farm now owned by N. M. Morgan, and they began business with 3,000 
•! leers. 

W. H. Paxton of Omaha, in 1876, located a ranch a short distance south- 
ea^-t of Callaway, on the Cottonwood, with 2,000 cattle. 

In 1878 Durfee & Gasman bought out the Paxton ranch and consolidated 
it wilh their ranch on the opposite side of the river. The range they claimed 
after the consolidation was the large yalley about Callaway, the Wood River 
valley and the valley of the Cottonwood. 

In 1876 Arnold & Ritchie located a ranch on the Loup, a short distance 
east of Arnold, with 1,000 cattle. 

In 1877 Henrv Bros, located another ranch west of Arnold with 3,000 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 19 



cattle. Thoy chiiiucd the wcsl ciul ot wlmi is ll()^v known as the Hi^ Table, 
Mills' valley, and to the head of llie Lonp, ns their i'anji;e. 

In the fall of ISTT or 1S78, the famous Olives located their ranch six 
miles east of Callaway and turned out thereon n.OOO head of cattle and 
claimed as their ranj^e the Loup valley east from llieir ranch, Spring creek 
iind Turner valley. They also, about the same time, located another ranch 
near the mouth of the Dismal river, in Blaine county, and claimed to have 
in all somethini»- like ITj.OOO head of cattle. It is probable they did not own 
the number of cattle claimed. 

In 1875 X. H. Dryden, now of Kearney, entered land on Victoria creek, 
settled there and brought with him about 100 head of cattle. 

In 1876 Thomas Loughran and I. Childs each entered land on the river 
near the Dryden ranch, and also began raising cattle. 

The same year Frank p]wing located a ranch on the Middle Loup valley 
near where Milburn no>v is, with 600 head of cattle. 

In 1878 Smith & Tee located on the north side of the Middle Loup river 
not far from the ranch of Ewing. They turned out about 800 head of cattle. 

In 1879 Finch-Uatten T3ros. located a ranch on the Loup just below the 
mouth of the Dismal, with 700 head of cattle. 

Shortly afterwards Miles & Gamlin followed with 1,600 head of cattle, 
locating not far from the ranch of Finch-tlatten Bros. 

The cattlemen met with no reverses until the winter of 1880-81. 

At this late date it is impossible to know, accurately, the number of cattle 
in Custer county in the summer of 1880, but there were probabh' very nearly 
60,000 head of cattle, of the value of not less than |1 ,500,000. 

The greater part of these cattle had been reared or brought into the 
county after the year 1875. 

Probably in the settlement of the United States no agricultural or graz- 
ing territory of a similar area witnessed such a rapid accumulation of wealth. 
Up to the winter of 1880-81 the profits from the business had exceeded the 
most sanguine expectation of the ranchman. 

The winters were mild and pleasant, with plenty of moisture during the 
springs and summers. The bulTalo grass upon the hills each year made a 
splendid growth. During the spring and summer the cattle did not graze 
upon, this grass, for there was plenty of blue-stem, grama and rye grass in 
the valleys and lagoons. But with the advent of freezing weather the cattle 
at once went to the hills to feed upon the buffalo grass. No more valuable 
winter forage exists than buffalo grass properly cured. Cattle fed upon the 
best of wild hay will not be in better condition in the spring than those which 




'*,im<^ 



\ 






.'^ ' 



!■ 






-J 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 21 



havt' wintered ii])()ii huffnlo <ii-ass. In tlic cconotiiy of iialuro this grass seems 
to have boon ( roatod and bronoht forth os])ocially for winter feed. 

The thonsands of buffalo tliat originally roamed this country- and made 
it their winter home lived upon this grass during the winter, hence the name. 

In those days there was a greater profit in buying young Texas steers 
and holding them than in raising calves. Yearling steers brought here from 
Texas could be bought at from |5 to |G per head; two-year-old for |9; three- 
year-old for 112 to 114; cows from |10 to |12. 

These same steers kept on Tustoi- county rango for from eighteen months 
to two years would sell from $25 to |40 and |45 per head. 

For a number of years no taxes were levied against the cattle. 

No investment in real estate was necessary. The cedar canons furnished 
material for houses, corrals and fuel. There was no expense for fencing, nor 
wells. The increase in value was nearly all profit. Tlie only important items 
of expense in the business were supplies for. and wages to, the cowboys. 
They received |35 to •''?40 per month. 

Prior to the winter of 18S0-81 very little hay was prepared for winter use. 
The cattle wintered on the range where they summered. During the winter 
the cattle were permitted to roam wherever they felt inclined, and no atten- 
tion was paid to them. 

The work of handling the cattle began with the sjning round-up about 
the first of May, and closed with the last shipment of cattle to market in 
the fall, which was about the first of November. 

The cowboys, after the long, idle winter, looked forward to the spring 
round-up with the same desire that the soldier, after months in the barracks, 
longs for active duty in the field and for battle. 

As the time for beginning of the round-up drew near the cowboy would 
be found busily engaged in washing his clothing and blankets, his saddle and 
bridle were cleaned and oiled, bits, spurs and six-shooters wore polished, and 
saddle ponies curried and given extra feed and attention. 

Among these men were found that same diversity of character, tempera- 
ment, energy and intelligence common to mankind everywhere. 

A reputation for courage was a necessary requisite to good standing in 
cowboy society. He who could display tho greatest recklessness, or assume 
the role of the greatest daro-devil, stood foronu)st and was the leader of 
that society. 

This desire for notoriety among his follows lod the cowboy into many 
serious diflficulties and gave rise to tho gonoral opinion that ho was without 
feeling or regard for tho rights of otliors and natuially cruel. This opinion 
was erroneous. His recklessness and occasional cruoltv wore not tho natural 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



23 



|H(Klucts of his iijiluie, hut were latlicr. in most instances, assiiined in a spirit 
of bravado. 

As a rule, the cowboy was true to his friends, and with him it was a 
religious prineiph> to stand by and never desert a friend in a "tight place." 

In the geneial round-up in the spring, all cattlemen having cattle upon 
the territory to be covered took part. Sometimes as many as 100 men worked 
together. A captain was selected and he directed the men. Cook wagons 
were provided and these were kept convenient to the men at woi-k on the 
ranae. 




Brig-hton Ranch. 



Each day cattle found were driven to a point selected by the cai)tain, 
where the calves were branded and the cattle of the different owners were 
"cut out" from the others and driven back to the range of the owner, and so 
work went on from week to week until all the territory where it was probable 
cattle of those engaged in the round-up could be found was covered. 

After this round-up was completed each ranchman again covered his own 
range, branded the calves found there, and again later in the summer when 
the steers had become fat, the range was again gone over and those in condi- 
tion for the market cut out and driven to the railroad and shipped. 

Probably no better idea of the dangers and hardships upon the range can 
be conveyed than by the reproduction here of a letter recently received by the 
writer from J. D. Haskell of Arnold, who, while now owning valuable ranches 
in Custer and adjoining counties, well stocked with cattle, in the early days 



24 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




J. D. Haskell's Ranch, near Arnold, Xeb. 



began business for himself as a cowboy working by the montli. 

Modesty has evidently deterred Mr. Haskell from disclosing what part 
he took in the incidents related in this letter. It is clearly inferable, how- 
ever, from the letter, that the 'ione cowboy riding beside the stampeding 
herd," was he. 

He says: "In those days the big cattle owners thought that if they 
furnished a tent for their men to sleep in they would be slow to leave it on 
stormy nights and get out and help hold the cattle. On the round-up and on 
the trail the cattle had to be night-herded every night. 

The cattle that had been gathered were never left for a moment until 
they were back on the range of the owner. Night shifts were necessary. The 
first shift rode around the cattle until II o'clock, the second from 11 until 2 
o'clock, and the third from 2 o'clock until after breakfast. These reliefs would 
have from one to four men, according to the size of the herd. 

"In the spring, through the month of May, a great deal of rain fell. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY D AYS IN NEBRASKA. 25 

"FiMMinciitly it was doudv and drizzly I'or lliicc or loiii' days at a tinu\ 
The cowboys were compelled to make their beds on the wet {ground, and very 
often a heavy rain would come on in the ni^ht and they would find them- 
selves lyinc: in a sheet of water. In such cases there was nothin^^ to do but 
uet up and lean ajiainst the wa^on or saddle horse until morning. 

"With daylight work would begin and no opportunity offered through 
the day to dry clothing and bedding. When night came on again there was 
nothing to do but turn into wet blankets. 

"Xo stove was furnished with the cook wagon. Bread was baked in a 
"dutch oven" and other food in skillets. 

"Frequently there was no time to eat breakfast. It always seemed 
strange to me that the men. compelled as they were to constantly endure this 
exposure, escaped contracting fatal diseases. 

"In 1877 three men and a cook were holding a band of 1,000 Texas steers 
on the Muddy where Broken Bow now stands. They had to night-herd the 
cattle every night. They saw only one man pass during the three months 
they were tliere. They received no mail and had nothing to read. As they 
were all young men who had been reared in the far east, they experienced 
a lonely time shut in from the outside world. 

"The last of September the owner sent a man to direct them to move 
the cattle to the ranch near where Callaway now is, that they might be taken 
from there to Plum Creek and shipped to Chicago. 

"The first night after the start for the ranch they camped about seven 
miles west of where they had held the cattle. The early part of the night 
was beautiful. All the boys but the night herder had turned in and for the 
first time in three months were enjoying sleep under a roof. 

"About 10 o'clock the man out with the cattle observed a Itlack. angry 
cloud moving up from the north. He rode to the tent, called to the other 
men to hurry up and help hold the cattle. 

"Thtn- got up slowly, grumbling. However, as soon as they looked out 
and saw what a terrible storm was coming they rushed for their horses, but 
before they could saddle and mount the storm had struck them. 

"In the meantime the watcher had hurried back to the cattle. He had 
almost reached the head of the herd when the storm broke. The darkness 
was intense. A terrible wind drove the rain in sheets. The entire herd 
jumped to their feet as one steer and started on a wild stampede before the 
storm. And oh, such a night! 

"The instant the cattle started the boy was also gone like a shot along 
the side of the herd. For more than a mile he ran beside the herd, over chop 
hills, across canons, trving to gel in tiie lead of the st<'ers. 



26 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



"The roar of 4.(M)0 hoof beats, rainjiied with the ((uisiaul crasli of tliuii- 
tler, made it a race never to be forgotten. Tlie cattle couhl only be seen by 
the rider at the flash of the lightning, Avhich was so dazzling as to almost 
blind his eves. 




The Old Black Ranch on Deer Creek, Owned and Refitted by Geo. Adams, Union Stock Yards. Chicago. 
W'm. Montgomery, Foreman. This is the Finest Equipped Ranch in the Northwest. 



"^'Time and again the wiry pony was on his knees, but almost instantly 
i!|) and again going. 

"Gradually the pony gained upon the leaders and the rider held him in 

gainst them. They began to swerve from their straight course before the 

storm. Gradually he brought them to running in a circle, then as he closed 

in nearer the outside cattle the circle became smaller and smalled until they 

were at a standstill. 

"The storm ended as suddenly as it began. Shortly his companions were 
there and the cattle were driven back to the tent and held until morning, 
when, on a count of the herd, it was found twenty-five were missing. These 



AND SHORT SKP^TCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 27 



were found later not far Ik.hi wlicic tlic calllc wcie stopped the night before, 
lying- upon the hillside resting- from tluMi- terrible run. 

"The point where that stampede was stoy)ped was at what is now the 
Charles Jeffords farm at the foot of the liig Table." 

The winter of 1880-81 will never be forgotten by those engaged in the 
cattle business in Custer county. Men who in the beginning of that winter 
were wealthy, found themselves bankrupt in the spring. 

Early in the winter a rain began falling. The grass became thoroughly 
saturated; then it suddenly turned cold and every stalk, spear and blade of 
Trass at once became an icicle — all matted together in one sheet of solid ice. 
Immediately following this came a heavy snow, from ten to twelve inches 
deep, which was again followed by another rain, and this in turn by another 
«;udden cold wave, the result of which was to cover the surface of the snow 
with a thick, strong crust. 

The country was covered with this ice and snow until spring. The winter 
was very severe, the temperature ranging for days and weeks at from ten to 
twent}' below zero. The conditions were such that it was almost impossible 
for the cattle to get to the grass. The winds which ordinarily blew the snow 
off the hills and left the grass thereon free to the cattle could not affect this 
solid body of ice and snow. 

The legs of the cattle traveling about in a famished condition seeking 
food soon became l^ruised and bleeding from contact with the sharp crust 
on the snow. 

There was plenty of feed on the ground, but the cattle could not get at it. 
They died by the hundreds and thousands. It was estimated that from 
seventj'-flve to ninety per cent, of the cows and calves on the range perished 
that winter and sixty per cent, of the steers also perished. They lay in piles 
behind the hills where they had sought shelter. 

The following spring many who had engaged in the business in Custer 
county, and who until this winter had believed there was no grazing country 
equal to it. quit the business in disgust and left the county. 

Nothing like this winter had preceded it in the history of the country, and 
nothing like it has been experienced since. 

The winter of 1880-81 marked the terniination of extraordinary profits 
in the cattle industry of Custer county. Already farmers had begun to immi- 
grate to the county and select for their homes the level and more fertile por- 
tions. This immigration soon became a great stream and by 1882 all those 
parts of the county most suitable f(U' agriculture had been taken. Free range 
was at an end. The few ranchmen remaining after the winter of 1880-81 
were in a constant struggle with the homesteader. The latter's crops were 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 29 



destroyed h\ the furnu'i's cattle, and in (iini Ihe cattle were destroyed by 
the indignant homesteader. 

A very bittf^r feeling- existed between those engaged in the two occnpa- 
tions; neither was fair nor jnst with the other. The weaker was compelled 
to give way to the stronger. There were a hundred homesteaders to every 
ranchman. A few of the more courageous cattlcMuen made a struggle to hold 
their ranges. They fenced in large tracts of territory, construc^ted wells in 
these pastures and the cowb(\vs in their employ made homestead, pre-emption 
and timber-culture entries therein under the government land laws. 

Frame shacks or shanties were constructed, called by the cowboys in 
their applications and final proof, houses. These were in many instances 
upon runners or wheels and were moved from claim to claim. The same 
shanty ofttimes answered the purpose of a house in making final proof for 
three or four cowboys upon as many different claims. 

But all this was of no avail to the i-anchman. The homesteader made 
entries within his pasture. He csmtested and had cancelled the entries of 
tlio cowboys. He cut and destroyed the fences. 

Bloodshed and murder were in many instances the result. In the courts 
the ranchman had but little hope of success. In his controversy with the 
hiuiesteader he must try his case to a jury of homesteaders. 

By the close of 1884 there were fully 18,000 people in Custei- county, and 
pj-obably not to exceed 4,000 cattle. 

.\s the ranchman and the Texas steer in the '60's and early 'TO's had 
diiven out the Indian and the butfalo, so now in the '80's the ranchman and 
the steer were compelled to give way to the farmer and the horse. 

It is not infrecjuent, even at this time, to hear expressions of regret that 
the free range has been converted into farms. Those who express these regrets 
do so without reflection. 

^.t this time over 20,000 prosperous people make their home in Custer 
county. The very great majority of these own the land whereon they live. 
They are fairly prosperous, and the whole population, in comparison with that 
of the East, where half the farmers, or more, are i-enters. may be said to be 
ver}' prosperous. 

Trains of cars upon the different railroads into or through the county 
have taken the place of the freight wagons of the original homesteader. 
Churches and school houses now occupy the sites where formerly were pitched 
the wigwam of the Indian and the tent of the cow-puncher. 

The cattle industry in Custer county is again becoming important, though 
(onducted upou a different plan from the original one. The farmer to-day 
produces grain in the valley and more fertik' portions of the county and 




^ s 





o 






CS 


a) 


W 








a 


^ 





M 


-M 






0) 


M 



AND SHORT SKETi;HES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 31 

rJinjiCS, thr(,u<ili Ihc siniunci- and lall, liis cat lie upon tlic liills adjoiiiinir liiiii 
T>hif:h he oavum. TIkic are no iiieat herds, but probably as many catth* in 
the county now as there were immediately prior to the winter of 1880-81, and 
of a very much superior quality. 

The cattle industry to-day is not so profitable as then, because more ex- 
pensive, but carried on in connection with farminjj:. it is still a profitable 
business. 



©Iti ^rtfkr'it ^fDry. 



Let the reader turn back to September, 1837, to a farm house in Rich- 
land county, Ohio, and he will find everything in confusion and bustle. A 
covered wao-on is standing at the door, and the process of packing up house- 
hold goods and storing them in the wagon tells the whole story. These people 
are preparing to leave the old home to push westward towards the setting 
sun, to secure a home across the big river in the Black Hawk territory, now 
the state of Iowa. It is a touching scene to behold, as the children pack 
away in the wagon such little keepsakes as they can carry with them, and 
shedding childish tears over those that are too bulky for the limited room 
they have and which must be left behind. The older members of the familv 
are visiting familiar spots where many hours of childish pleasure have been 
.spent, and bidding good-bye to companions whom, in all probability, they 
will never meet again, while little Swain, a chubby fellow of eighteen months, 
laughs — yes, laughs, at this early age the hero of our story laughs and crows, 
and sticks his fat little fists into his mouth, wondering what all this fuss is 
about anyway, except occasionally when he gets the colic (and he was subject 
to these spells when a little shaver.) Then the process of packing had to be 
discontinued and every member of the family was called upon to do some 
thing to relieve the little fellow's suffering and to direct his attention from 
himself. Jacob, David and Thomas would beat on the bottom of the dish 
pan or boiler, with sticks, in an attempt to make more noise than the baby, 
and little Ruth and Elizabeth would clap their hands and dance, while father 
carried him, singing: "Bye, Oh Baby Bunting," and mother administered 
catnip tea and watched father to see that he carried the baby right side up 
until he became quiet once more. And the mild-eyed oxen stand patiently 
waiting for the last piece of furniture to be packed preparatory to starting 
upon their long journey of several hundred miles. This man's name is John 



32 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

Finch and liis wife's name is Comfort. And she has indeed proven to be a 
comfort to John, and is destined to still further prove her title to the name 
in the j^ears of toil and hardship that are before them in their pioneer home. 
We pass over a period of several weeks and ask our reader to p:o with 
us to that then far off and almost unknown land, ^'be^-ond the Mississippi." 
to a point about thirty miles west of the present cit.y of Davenport, in ('eaar 
county, Iowa, on Sugar creek, in the heart of a howling wilderness. We here 
find our pioneer and his family. They have gone into camp and the male 
portion are busily engaged in cutting down trees and hewing the logs for a 
cabin. The country is very sparsely settled, and for weeks the Finchs do 
not see the face of a human being outside of the family, except occasionally 
that of some roving red man who drops in on them to beg whatever he can. 
and steal what he cannot procure by begging, if opportunity offers. Every- 
thing goes on merrily and while this is a great change from the eastern 
home, yet the mother bravely Ix^ars her share of the burden of building the 
new home in the wilderness. She may sigh in secret when she thinks of 
the many little conveniences left behind with civilization, but she is always 
ready with a quiet smile of welcome when the husband comes in from a hard 
day's work, and attends to the many little wants of her children with a 
cheerful earnestness that leaves her little time for repining. The cabin is 
soon finished and John has secured a job of carpenter w'ork a few miles away 
from a man who has a big scheme for building a county seat and is having 
a store put up. As John hammers, away he is thinking of the home comforts 
that the money for his work will bring, and that soon they can have some 
meat and potatoes to store away for the winter, which is fast approaching, 
and to renew the supply of cornmeal which he knows is almost exhausted. 
He will have |90 earned to-night, and to-morrow he must ask his employer for 
some money and let one of the boys take the oxen and go to Neighbor Flint's, 
buy their winter supply of corn and take some of it to mill, as he has heard 
that Mr. Flint had quite a lot of corn to sell, being the only man in that part 
of the country who had raised a surplus, and who was making a fortune 
by selling it for |1.25 a bushel. The following morning when John Finch 
appeared ready for the day's work he foTiud the building closed and a notice 
that work would be suspended for the present. He learned from parties on 
the premises that the proprietor had "gone broke" and left for parts unknown 
the night before, leaving the workmen without a nickel for their wages. 
Here was a "go" sure enough. John had spent his last cent a week before 
and was depending upon this money. He turned towards his home with a 
heavy heart, not knowing what was to be done. He well knew that Flint 
had the re])utation of being a very close man, and had some misgivings about 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 33 



getting auy corn nnlcss he had tlio money to pay for it. His wife had in- 
formed him that very morning that there was liardly a ponnd of meal left 
in the honse, and he had cheered her up by telling her what he intended to 
do. But now he must return home with starvation staring them in the face, 
and to make matters worse a storm which for several days had been threaten- 
ing, set in, and promised to be a severe one. 

In the little log cabin of John Finch that day and the following night 
there was gloom and disappointment, as the little remaining food was por- 
tioned out so that it would last as long as possible, while the wind howled 
and whistled without, piling the light snow in huge drifts, making it a task 
to be out long enough to feed and water the oxen and procure fuel to keep the 
old-fashioned fireplace filled with blazing logs, which snapped and crackled 
merrily and afforded the family the only comfort they had that long, dreary 
day. As John sat gazing into the glowing coals he had time to look into the 
future, where lie saw a coming generation enjoying the results that were to 
follow the trials and hardships of himself and other pioneers. The next 
morning they sat down to the last morsel of food in the house. It was still 
storming, but not nearly so hard as yesterday. After some minutes of silence 
the mother, who had been making a pretense of eating, but was in reality 
dividing the food on her plate among the younger children, says in a low. 
Fad tone: ''John, what are you going to do if this storm continues?" John 
sits for a long time without speaking, his manly frame seems convulsed with 
emotion and big tears force themselves from his eyes. He finally recovers 
bis voice and says: "Mother, I am not going to see you and the children 
starve. Old Flint has got to let me have some corn, money or no money." 

He pushed back from the table, having barely tasted the morsel of food 
before him, as he, too, had been making but a pretense of eating. He arose, 
put on his overcoat and mufder and was soon on his way to Flint's. His 
wife watched him out of the window as he disappeared through the trees, 
and then with a sigh returned to the work of setting things to rights in the 
little home, and cooing and chirping to little Swain, who is inclined to be 
colicky and needs extra care. 

John floundered along as best he could through the deep snow drifts, 
over fallen timber and around dense patches of undergrowth which it was 
impossible to penetrate. After about an hour of this kind of walking he 
came to quite a clearing and saw a commodious log house, with stables and 
outbuildings, indicating that the owner, although on the frontier, was a man 
of some means. John approached the door and knocked rather timidly, and 
the misgivings he had entertained all along did not abate in the least as he 
stood there waiting for some one to answer. A sharp, rasping voice, pitched 



34 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



in a high key. bade him enter. He stamped the snow from his feet as best 
he could and opened the door. "Mercy me! Come in quickly,'' spoke the 
rasping voice, "and shut the door, or the room will be full of snow." John 
got inside as quickly as possible and apologized for causing so much trouble. 

Let us take a look at the owner of the premises as he sits in an easy chair 
before a large fireplace full of blazing logs. He is past middle age; iron 
gray hair and blue eyes; angular features, with the lips drawn tightly over 
the teeth, and a self-satisfied smirk playing around his mouth. Politely invit- 
ing John to a seat, he inquires: 

"What may I call your name, sir?" 

"My name is John Finch." 

"Ah, yes! Mr. Pinch, I have heard of you, I believe. You moved in on 
Sugar creek and took a claim this fall." 

"Yes, sir," replied John, "and I understand, Mr. Flint, that you have 
corn to sell at |1.2o a bushel, and I have come to buy a bushel of you to 
take to mill, as we haven't a mouthful of food in the house. 

"Certainly, Mr. Finch. I shall be glad to sell you a bushel of corn and 
help a neighbor in a pinch, as I was very fortunate this year, and have plenty 
for my own use and to sell. You can have all you wish, Mr. Finch, if it's 
twenty bushels. My! but doesn't that storm, rage fearfully? I wouldn't be 
surprised if we had the hardest winter we have had for years, Mr. Finch." 

"Indeed it does look blue for a new beginner like me," remarked John, 
"and I thank you, sir, for your generous offer to let me have so much corn, 
but I have been unfortunate. I have been working all fall on the new county 
seat store since I got my house up, and I have used up every cent I brought 
with me. I had earned |90 on the store, and had not drawn a cent of my 
wages, and yesterday found the work closed down and Jones gone without 
paying me. I only want to get a bushel of corn to keep my wife and children 
from starving, and as soon as this storm is over I will get work somewhere 
and pay you." 

"Ah, Mr. Finch, that puts it in a very different light. Y^ou must know 
I — er — er, I — a— sympathize with you, but — er — a man has to look out for 
himself first and other folks afterwards. If you can bring me the money, Mr. 
Finch, I wiU be glad to let you have the corn, although I may be foolish to 
sell, as next year may be a drought." 

John Finch sat in his chair for a few seconds, utterly dazed, hardly know- 
ing whether he had heard the man aright. When he fully realized what it 
meant to the dear ones at home, and thought of the utter heartlessness and self- 
ishness of this thing in the shape of a man, who for a few paltry cents would 
let them starve, his rage had no bounds, and he sprang to his feet. With 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 35 



Hashing eyes lie toAvered above old Skin Flint like an avenging angel, with 
clenched teeth and the veins standing out on his temples like whip cords, 
as he said: "Mr. Flint, I have one more expedient to try to save my family 
from starvation. If that fails, I am coming back and, by the eternal, I am 
going to liaA'e a bushel of corn, money or no money." 

He flung open the door and again rushed out into the storm, in which 
he soon disappeared, while old Flint cowered down in his chair, whining and 
saying that if it became known that he was letting his corn go without the 
money he would soon not have a bushel left in his crib. 

John walked rapidly for some time, then suddenly stopped, and, looking 
cautiously around, toolv his knife and cut a hickory stick about three feet 
long and two and a half inches in diameter at the butt. He muttered again: 
"By the eternal, if I fail, I will have a bushel of corn, money or no money." 
Carefully leaning the club against a stump, he hurried onward. He soon came 
to a small clearing in which stood a little rough log cabin. He rapped smartly 
at the door and was invited to enter by a cheery voice from within. He did 
j?o, and as soon as his eyes became accustomed to the light from the one small 
window, he discerned a pleasant-faced young fellow, with needle and thread, 
attempting to mend a rent in the sleeve of his blouse. The young man arose, 
gave him a hearty handshake and invited him to a seat, apologizing for the 
effeminate work in which he was engaged, adding: 

"A fellow has to turn his hand to most any kind of work in this country, 
Mr. Finch." 

"That's true. Mr. Bushnell, but you are lucky to have only yourself to 
provide for such weather as this." 

"I don't know but you are right, sir, but it gets awful monotonous some- 
times, mending and cooking for one's self; I often think it would be nice to 
have some one depending on me for support." 

John was too much concerned about his own troubles to dally long in 
suspense, and at once laid his case before the young man, who listened at 
tentively. At the conclusion of the story of John's adventure with his rich 
neighbor Bushnell clenched his fist and muttered: "The old skinflint.'' 

"Well, Mr. Finch, I have about a hundred bushels of potatoes, which is 
all the crop I raised this year, and if I can be assured of a living until spring, 
you shall have the potatoes. 

A bargain was soon closed, wheieby the potatoes were transferred to 
The Finch cabin, along with young Bushnell, who boarded with them all 
winter. Not being very well protected, the potatoes were soon frozen solid, 
but for six weeks the family had nothing else upon which to subsist. When 
the weather moderated John obtained some work, and as the years rolled on 



36 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



he prospered and became independent. Young Swain, the hero of our story, 
j:rew apace and soon reached voung manhood. He Avas a great admirer of 
the fair sex, and would often cast sheep's eyes at the girls when he thought 
They were not looking, but his extreme bashfulness came near consigning 
him to perpetual bachelorhood. He lived with his parents until 1S63, when 
he was married to Sarah H. Moore, and in the spring of 18G4, in company 





E. S. FINCH. 



MRS. E. S. FINCH. 



Nvitli his brother, David, he made a trip to Montana in search of gold. Not 
heiug very successful, they started for home in a flatboat down the Yellow- 
stone river. When they had floated dow^n to within some ninety miles of 
the Missouri river winter overtook them and prevented further progress by 
that means. Having fallen in with three other men who had been in Montana 
wn the same errand as themselves, they all joined in, built themselves a log 
cabin and hunted and trapped until the ice went out in the spring. They had 
to live for six months on bear, elk and deer meat, without either salt or bread 
of any kind. They had left their boat in the water and when the ice began 
to move in the spring it was torn to pieces, leaving the boys on foot in a 
Vi'ild, rough country, many miles from any settlement, with a large lot of furs 
and skins that must be transported by some means. They fortunately had 
an old whip-saw among their belongings, and with this they went to work and 
sawed lumber enough with which to construct a boat thirty-eight feet long 
and nine feet wide, into which they loaded their furs, which they took down 
to Yankton and Sioux City and disposed of for the snug sum of $1,000. 



AND SHOET SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 37 



They reached Omaha May 8, IS^;."), and the Finch hoys i)i'()ceeded lionie as 
last as they could, where they were received with great rejoicing, the family 
not having heard a word fi-om Iheni since their dcj^arfiire almost a year 
before. 

When and where E. S. Finch, the hero of this story, received the name of 
•'Uncle Swain," and his good wife that of ''Annt Sarah," the writer does not 
know, but it w^as a long time ago, and hereafter in this sketch we shall use 
these names, as they are seldom referred to by any other in Custer county. 

After the trip to the gold fields of Montana in 1804-;"), Uncle Swain and 
Aunt Sarah moved to Hardin county, Iowa, where they lived nntil tlu^ spring 
of 1875. They had known what hard times meant in tlieir childhood, and 
had determined at the outset of their married life to live economically. As 
a consequence they found themselves ten years later in fairly good circum- 
stances and possessed of many of the good things of this life. As free range 
for stock had by this time become a thing of the past in Iowa, Uncle Swain 
and his brother, David, started to Nebraska in the latter part of May, 1875, 
with eighty head of cows, Aunt Sarah driving a horse team, while her hus- 
band navigated a prairie schooner drawn by two yoke of oxen. They landed 
at Kearney, Nebraska, on July 4th, having made the trip in about forty-ei.ght 
days. They went into camp near Brady Island, cut and put up some hay for 
their cattle, and in October came over to the South Loup river and located a 
ranch on section 8, township 16, range 24. They arrived about dark and 
camped for the night. The next morning, while David and a younger brother 
who had come along with them were preparing breakfast. Uncle Swain saw 
something that looked like a post in the ground away off on the prairie. He 
picked up his gun and strolled leisurely over to investigate, and found the 
remnants of a camp, probably that of a beef outfit on their way to the Sioux 
reservation. The object that he had taken for a post proved to be a sugar 
barrel, and thinking it would be a good thing to pack meat in, stepped up 
to get it. He looked into it, then rubbed his eyes and looked again, and 
walked back to camp, procured a grain sack and returned to the barrel. 
These mysterious movements on the part of Uncle Swain excited the curios- 
ity of his brothers, and when he came back to camp with the barrel under one 
arm and the sack half full of something on his back they shouted to him in 
chorus: "What have you got in the sack?" 

''Coffee," puff's Uncle Swain, as he throws down the barrel and deposits 
the sack on the ground in front of him. 

"Oh, you can't fool us; it's corn or oats," 

For answer Uncle Swain gets an empty can, unties the sack and opens 
to view a good half bushel of fine looking coffee to the astonished gaze of 



AXn SHORT SKETCHP]- OF KAHLV DAYS l\ N|C1!RASKA. 30 



his brothers. He takes out a large drawing and proceeds to make some for 
i/icakfast, and as the fragrant aroma arises from the boiling pot, David and 
bis brother conclude that the coffee is poisoned, and try to dissuade Swain 
from drinking any of it. Not succeeding in this, they try to kick it over, but 
^'wain stands out firmly and declares that the fellow who Idcks his coffee 
into the fire will follow it. Seeing that he was in earnest, they permitted 
him to swallow^ two big tin cups full of it, after which, taking a long breath, 
he says: *'Now, boys, if I ain't dead in fifteen minutes, you can have some 
of it." It is needless to say that soon after the two boys were enjoying as 
good a cup of coffee as they ever tasted, and as they had but a little tea with 
them the find proved a valuable one. They blessed the absent-mindedness of 
the cook who had gone away and forgotten his coffee barrel. 

Upon investigation they found plenty of cedar in the canons near by, 
which they cut and used in the construction of a log cabin about twelve by 
fourteen feet in size. Then killing a wagon load of deer and elk, they returned 
to the camp at Brady's Island. In about two weeks thereafter they were 
settled on their ranch and put in the balance of the winter cutting and haul- 
ing cedar, building another log house sixteen by eighteen feet, making stables 
and corrals, and looking after their stock. 

A funny incident which happened at one time while they were keeping 
batch for a short time at the new ranch is worth repeating. One morning the 
cook had an extra fine brewing of coffee and they all showed their appre- 
ciation of it by drinking more than usual. Uncle Swain had passed his cup 
the third or fourth time, when he observed something white in the coffee pot. 
He remarked: 

"Say, Jim, where did you get the egg to clear yer coffee with this 
morning?" 

''Didn't have any egg," grumbled Jim, who appeared to bo a little out 
of sorts and not in a talkative mood. 

"What's the use of yer lyin' about it, Jim; I seed it when you w'as pourin' 
out that last cup of coffee." 

"You didn't, nutlier/' snapped Jim. 
The Finch boys had as a guest a stylish friend from Iowa, and he was 
called upon to examine the cofl'ee pot to settle the dispute between Uncle 
Swain and the cook. The young man ]»()ured the grounds out in the jard 
and made a critical examination. He gave a sort of convulsive gasp, turned 
deathly pale, placed his hand near the region of his stomach and disappeared 
around the house. The antics of the young fellow' caused the others to push 
their unfinished cups aside — Uncle Swain alone excepted — and to make an 
investigation of the contents of the coffee pot. Among the grounds they dis- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 41 



covered a larj;e, warty toad, swollen lo three times his natural size. The old 
fellow had evidently climbed up between the lo«?s of the cabin and fallen 
into the coffee pot, which sat close to the wall and had no lid. 

In the sprinj? of 1876 the boys planted about sixty acres of sod corn, 
which was just bej;inning- to malce fine roasting ears, when one afternoon 
they discerned Avhat appeared to be a prairie fire, a dense cloud of smoke aris- 
ing in the northwest. They wondered at a prairie fire at that time of the 
year, when the grass was gToen. They watched it intently as it came nearer 
and nearer, until it obscured the sun and darkened th(^ air like an eclipse. 
When it had come within a hundred yards of them they lieard a continuous 
cracking and snapping sound, which increased to a perfect roar as it ap- 
proached them, AA hen they discovered to their horror that a cloud of grass- 
hoppers was u])()n them. They alighted and in a few seconds every green 
thing in sight was literally covered and hidden with a seething, crawling 
mass several inches in depth. The beautiful field of corn melted down as 
if each leaf was a spray of hoar frost in the rays of a noonday sun. Uncle 
Swain was dumbfounded for a moment, but when he saw that corn fading 
he came to his senses, cut a large willow bush and went after those grass- 
hoppers with a vengeance. He proceeded down a corn row, threshing to right 
and left, killing his thousands with every sweep, and mowing a swath of 
death in his track. When he had gone about a hundred yards he stopped 
to get his breath and discovered to his extreme disgust that there were 
as many grasshoppers behind him as there were ahead. This disheartened 
him and he gave it up as a hopeless task. The hoppers ate up everything 
in the shape of grain and garden stuff on the place, leaving it as brown and 
bare as if it had been swept by fire. They would settle on a post the thick- 
ness of a man's arm, and in a few seconds it would appear to be as big as 
a log. When the hoppers left it it would look as if it had been scraped with 
a knife, every vestage of bark and fiber being eaten off. Aunt Sarah and 
her sister-in-law had a fine patch of cabbages which they thought to save by 
covering the plants with hay; but the hay served only as a convenient shade 
for the hoppers, who crawled under it and dined off the juicy cabbage heads 
at their leisure. They then laid the hay around the patch and buimed it, 
thinking to smoke the pests away, but to no avail. WTien they left that 
cabbage patch nothing remained but a few bare stalks eaten almost to the 
ground. 

After the log house was finished Aunt Sarah was installed as cook, and 
many and varied were the experiences she passed through in that frontier 
home. The story of them alone would fill a large book. She had a dirt floor, 
covered with green cow hides which she stretched tightly, hair side up. 



42 PIONEEK HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



making the room look very neat and cozy indeed. Slie learned the art of 
tanning deer hides and the skins of other animals, and at this day has many 
beantifiil rugs made from these which testify to her fine handiwork in that 
line. Aunt Sarah was the only woman within forty miles, and a braver one 
uever trod the soil of Nebraska. While all the men folks were off on the 
round-up she was left alone for days at a time, and at one time a whole 
month, with only a dog and a cat to keep her company. She had to ride the 
range daily for several hours to prevent the cattle from straying away. 
Indian scares were frequent, and many a stout-hearted man would have 
been reluctant to remain in such a place in solitude as did this brave 
woman. But Aunt Sarah was always prepared for the worst, and Uncle 
Swain mixed a box of sugar and strychnine which she carried with her for 
three years. No doubt many of our readers will ask what use she expected 
to put this mixture to. She knew Indians were very fond of sugar, and when- 
ever one of them obtained any of it, he would never take a taste until the 
whole band were present. Then, seated on the ground, he would pass the del- 
icacy around, dropping a small portion in the palm of each outstretched 
hand. When all had been served they ate it at a given signal. Had a band 
of the savages robbed Aunt Sarah of her sugar, the result could be easily 
imagined. Aunt Sarah could throw the lariat with wonderful skill, and was 
always to be found where duty called her, no matter how disagreeable or how 
difficult the task she had to perform. To-day, after twenty-five years passed 
in Custer county, she sits in her elegant home by her cheerful fireside, and re- 
counts the trials and tribulations of the past, many of them stranger than 
fiction. L'ncle Swain is just as young to-day as he was twenty-five years 
ago. He has ahvays been more or less a source of trouble to Aunt Sarah, 
although she now has him prettj' well in hand. Some years ago whenever she 
gave him a "piece of her mind" and endeavored to show him the error of his 
ways, he would retaliate by threatening to commit suicide in some horrible 
manner. Upon one occasion Aunt Sarah was freeing her mind for Uncle 
Swain's benefit, when he shouted: ''If you don't shut right up, I'll go out 
and freeze myself to death in that snow bank." Aunt Sarah was too much 
out of patience to remember former frights that she had received by similar 
threats, and kept right on laying down the law from her understanding of it. 
With eyes glaring into space, clenched teeth, and set features, like a man who 
contemplates some terrible deed, looking neither to the right nor to the left, 
he takes down his overcoat and puts it on, buttoning it up to his chin, walks 
deliberately out and lies down on the snow bank. These movements are fol- 
lowed by two pairs of curious black eyes belonging to his nephews, John and 
Bob, who look on with mouths wide open thinking the old man had gone 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF KARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 43 



crazy. After a few mirmles the freeziiii,^ iiinii raises hiiiisclf uj) (Ui one elbow, 
looks around and discovers these 1\vo jiair of hrij^ht eyes watching: him 
througli a chink in the wood shed. He motions the boys to come to him and 
sends Johnny after the bnfl'alo robe, which he carefully wraps n round his 
body and again lies down to freeze in comfort. As he lies there he pictures 
Aunt Sarah inside taking on and weeping her eyes out over his sad fate. 
Catching another glimpse of the bright eyes he calls their owners to him and 
inquires, in a stage whisper: 

''Say, boys, is the old gal a-cryin'?" 

"Naw, she's laughin'." 

Then, by George, that settles it; I won't freeze." 



tfji^ MitcIjcU ant) tn^fii;unt frag^tiy. 

During the year 1877 a number of settlers located on Clear creek, near 
1 he east line of the county, among the number being Luther Mitchell and Ami 
Ketchum. Mitchell came from Merrick county, was a farmer about sixty-five 
years of age, and married. Ketchum was a blacksmith by trade, but had de- 
cided to become a farmer, although he still did some work at his trade for the 
neighbors. He Avas unmarried and was living with Mitchell at the time of 
which we are writing. 

I. P. Olive was one of the wealthiest cattle men in Nebraska at that time, 
and owned many thousands of cattle that roamed over the valley of the South 
Loup river and adjoining country, and in common with other men in the 
same line of business, had suffered heavy losses from the depredations of 
cattle thieves. For this reason he became the prime mover in an attempt to 
drive the cattle thieves from the country. Olive resided in Plum Creek. 
Dawson county, but his ranch was on the South Loup river, about four miles 
east of the present town of Callaway. While in a general way he was a good 
sort of man, and very generous and courteous to those with whom he was on 
good terms, he was an implacable enemy and an adept in the use of firearms. 
His brother, Kobert Olive, was a bad man w^hen aroused. Bob Olive had pre- 
viously killed several men in Texas, and to conceal his identity had assumed 
the name of Stevens and tlown to Nebraska, where his brother L P. had 
already established a ranch, and it was under the name of Stevens that he 
was known during his career in Custer county. A short time previous to the 
events which led up to the killing of Bob Olive, or Stevens, one Manley Capel 



44 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




ioo^JV-^yx^x-kfi^icL 



.- ,jpfi^^ 



cA-c. 







V 



^ ~. <-\ _i_ i 



m w n-^^.t 



Old Mitchell Ranch on Clear Creek. 



had been arrested on a charge of cattle stealing in Custer county, and in his 
confession he seemed to implicate Ami Ketchum in the nefarious business. 
This, with the information obtained from a man by the name of Mclndeffer, 
who was acting as a sort of spy for the cattlemen (and who, by the way, was 
hanged as a cattle thief in No Man's Land, a few years ago, so it is said), so 
impressed the Olives that they determined to arrest Ketchum, and notwith- 
standing the enmity that was known to exist between Bob Olive and 
Ketchum, Sheriff David Anderson, of Buffalo county, made Olive a deputy to 
arrest Ketchum. In the company of two rough and reckless cowboys named 
Barney Armstrong and Pete Beaton, Bob Olive started for the home of 
Mitchell and Ketchum on the 2Tth day of November, 1878, with Mclndeffer 
as a guide. When they arrived at the homestead of Mr. Mitchell, the latter 
and Ketchum were preparing to go to a neighbor's by the name of Dowse, to 
return a borrowed animal. Mrs. Mitchell was preparing to go with them. 
Before they started a stranger rode up and asked if he could have his horse 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 45 



shod. Ketchiim explainod liis i>laiis for the day and asked tlie man to come 
the followinii: day and he conkl shoe the horse. The stranj?er agreed to do so 
and rode away to rejoin Bob Olive and the other two men, who were liidden 
behind a small liill to the south of Mitchell's house. Having failed to get 
Jlitchell and Ketehum sepai'ated by the I'nse of getting the horse shod, the 
Jiien now rode boldly np toward the settlers, who paid no particular attention 
1o them, as men on horseback were the rule and not the exception in those 
days. Mrs. Mitchell had already taken her seat in the wagon, and the men 
were tying the animal to the hind axle of the vehicle. When within a short 
distance the cowboys made a dash on their horses, four abreast, and Bob 
Olive shouted to Ketehum to throw up his hands, as he was an otficei- of the 
law, at the same time presenting his revolver. Ketehum threw up his right 
hand with a forty-four Colt's revolver in it. and both num fired at the same 
instant. Several shots were exchanged, resulting in the breaking of Ketch- 
iim's left arm. As soon as the shooting commenced the old man, Mitchell, 
grabbed his Winchester and took deadly aim at Olive, who discovered him 
and shouted: "My God, old man, don't shoot," but it was too late. Mitchell's 
linger iuid already pressed the trigger and the bullet sped forward to do its 
fatal work. Olive reeled in his saddle and the cowboys prevented him from 
falling. He gasped: "Boys, I am done for." Supporting him on his horse, 
they turned and rode rapidly away, followed by bullets from Ketchum's Win- 
chester, w^hich was loaded by a girl named Tamar Snow, a step-daughter of 
Mitchell, Ketehum being unable to load the gun himself on account of his 
broken arm. He fired the last shot at a range of 200 yards, just as the 
cowboys dropped out of sight behind the rise of ground previously referred 
to. One of Ketchum's bidlets cut a scarf around Beaton's neck in two, draw 
ing blood, and another shaved off one side of the rim of his hat close to 
the head. Another went through Armstrong's foot. Mclndeffer, who after- 
wards described the encounter, declared that Ketehum came as near being 
the devil as any man he ever saw, and that he believed he would have killed 
every one of them, even with one broken arm, if they had not gotten out of 
the way. As soon as the cowboys got out of reach of the flying bullets, Olive 
was laid on the ground and a consultation held. The wounded man was then 
taken to the dugout of one Harrington, who lived about a quarter of a mOe 
further down the creek, where Olive made his will and sent for his wife. He 
died in three days afterwards. 

As soon as the cowboys disappeared from sight Mitchell and Ketehum 
packed up their few movable belongings and started for their former home 
in Merrick county. As soon as the news of the shooting spread over the 
countrv there was great excitement among the cattlemen and cowboys, and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 47 



the same night a large force returned to the Mitchell house, undoubtedly to 
wreak vengeance on the two men, but finding them gone they set fire to the 
house and burned up the roof, that being the only part of it that was combus- 
tible. 

When they arrived in Merrick county Mitchell and Ketchum went to the 
house of George Gagle, and a Dr. Barnes was sent for to attend to Ketchum's 
broken arm. The next morning, acting upon the advice of friends, and hav- 
ing found a place of safety for Mitchell's family, the two men started back 
to Custer county to give themselves up to the authorities for the killing of 
Stevens. On their w^ay they passed through Loup City and consulted with 
Attorney Aaron Wall, who advised them to proceed no farther, as the cow- 
boys would certainly lynch them. They remained several days in Loup City 
and then went to the house of J. R. Baker, on Oak creek, in Howard county, 
where they were arrested by William Letcher, sheriff of Merrick county, and 
E. W. Crew, sheriff of Howard county, giving themselves willingly into tlie 
custody of the officers. I. P. Olive had offered a reward of |700 for their 
arrest and several officers, among whom were Crew of Howard county, 
Anderson of Buffalo county, Gillan of Keith county and Letcher of Merrick 
county were anxious to capture them in order to secure the reward. But 
after the capture Crew and Letcher were unwilling to assume the responsi- 
bility of taking the prisoners to Custer county and of turning them over to 
the cowboys. They were finally taken to Buffalo county and lodged in the 
jail at Kearney, in charge of Sheriff Anderson, for safe keeping. The pris- 
oners were at first held without legal authority, as Olive had given the war- 
rant for their arrest, issued in Cubter county, into the hands of Barney 
Gillan, sheriff of Keith county, to serve. The prisoners had engaged Thomas 
Darnall of St. Paul and E. C. Calkins of Kearney as counsel. Their attorneys 
endeavored to have the prisoners retained in the jail at Kearney, having 
i-easons for believing they would be lynched if taken to Custer county. The 
feeling at Kearney was against Mitchell and Ketchum, as the people had been 
led to believe that Olive had been shot while fulfilling his duty as an officer 
of the law. A dispute arose among the sheriffs as to a division of the reward 
offered by I. P. Olive for the arrest, but Olive declined to pay the money 
until the prisoners were delivered in Custer couty. A proposition was finally 
njade to Sheriff" Anderson to take the men to Custer county, for which ser- 
vice the others agreed to pay him |50. This proposition was declined by 
Anderson, unless he were paid enough to enable him to employ a sufficient 
number of men to guard the prisoners. It was at last arranged that Gillan 
should take the prisoners to Custer county, as he held the warrant for their 
arrest, and he promised to notify their attorneys. Darnell and Cjilkins. so 








O o 

^' a 

— a 

a ^ 

=^ >. 

CO 2 






2 u 






AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



49 




The Cowhoyti crossing ford near Old Olive Ranch, 
on their way to Devil's Gap. 



that they could accoiiipaiiy their clients. As Gillan was a sheriff, and his 
desperate character was nnknown to Darnell and Calkins, they thought 
everything- was all right. Nevertheless they kept their eyes on the jail to 
prevent any attempt to remove the prisoners by stealth. On the forenoon 
of December 10th, Darnell, fearing that the prisoners were about to be 
taken away, kept close watch until the west bound emigrant train came in. 
After its arrival at Kearney he waited at the depot until he thought it was 
about time for it to pull out, when he started to leave. In the meantime 
Gillan had taken the prisoners from the jail and hustled them into a car just 
as the train was pulling out. Darnell telegraphed to Gillan at Elm Creek, 
asking him if he would hold the prisoners at Plum Creek until the next train. 
Gillan replied that he would do so. Darnell also telegraphed to Captain 
McNamar, an attorney at Plum Creek, requesting him to see what was done 
with the prisoners when they got off the train at that city. Plum Creek was 
the home of I. P. Olive, and here he was surrounded by many friends and 
employes. The train pulled into Plum Creek about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, 
and Olive and his friends were waiting at the depot with wagons, into one 
of which the prisoners were immediately loaded, and a start made to Custer 
county. Captain McKamar was unable to prevail on Gillan and Olive to wait 
for the arrival of Darnell from Kearney, and believing it was the intention 
to murder Mitchell and Ketchum, he followed the wagon train for some 
distance. Seeing that they were being followed, the wagons separated, but 
McNamar kept after the one containing the prisoners until it became so dark 




— o 

o ^ 

o „ 

ft £ 



O J 



»>^ ■kK-y'.Vr/Jt^i- .11 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 61 



lliat be lost the tiail among the hills. The Olive party kept on all night 
until they met on the South Ix)up, about five miles from the Olive ranch, 
^^•he^e the transfer of the prisoners from Gillan to Olive took place. The 
names of the men who received the prisoners were Dennis Gartrell, Pedro 
Dominicns and Bion Brown. After the delivery of the prisoners to Olive's 
men, Sheriff Gillan and Phil Dufrand walked away a short distance while 
Ihe Olive men started with the prisoners to a place known as the "Devil's 
Gap," in a wild canon about half way between the Loup and Wood River 
valleys, some five miles southeast of where Callaway now stands. Olive and 
Gartrell drove the wagon containing the prisoners, and the\ stopped under 
a small elm tree. A couple of ropes were passed over a limb and Gartrell 
tied one of them around Ketchum's neck, while Pedro Dominicns fastened 
The other around the neck of Mitchell. Ketchum was first drawn u]). Olive 
then took a rifie and shot Mitchell, after which he also was drawn up until 
iie dangled beside his companion. The bodies of the two unfortunate men 
were found at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the following day by a party 
of men, among whom were Captain McXamar, Anton Abel. Louis Wamsgan, 
George Sandford, Al Wise, County Judge Boblitz and perhaps others. When 
found the bodies were frightfully burned, that of Ketchum still hanging 
1o the limb, while that of Mitchell was resting on the ground, the rope by 
which he had been suspended having either been broken or burned in two. 
The men were handcuffed together, one of Mitchell's arms being drawn up 
to Ketchum by the handcuffs, while the other was burned off to the shoulder. 
Jt was a sickening sight, and Captain McNamar returned to Plum Creek 
and reported what he had seen. 

After hanging Mitchell and Ketchum, the Olive gang rode about one 
mile toward the Olive ranch, where two of the men were given fresh horses 
with which to return to Plum Creek. It will probably never be known who 
did the burning of the bodies, or how the same was done, but it is generally 
supposed that these two men, crazed with drink and fired with the thought 
of revenge for the killing of one of their number, resolved to put the finish- 
ing touch on the terrible night's work by pouring the contents of their liquor 
flasks over the hanging bodies of their victims and setting them on fire, as 
they had to pass by that road to get back to Plum Creek. The evidence at 
the trial was convincing that the bodies had been burned, although an attempt 
was made to prove that Mitchell's clothing had caught fire from the powder 
of Olive's gun, and although it had been put out, it caught again after the 
men departed from the spot. A careful examination of the spot disclosed 
The fact that the fire had been carefully whipped out for quite a circle around 
the bodies, thus proving that some one must have been present during the 



52 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

burning; otherwise the whole country would have been burned over, as 
the grass was as dry as tinder. It does not appear, however, that Olive was 
a party to, or had any knowledge of, this part of the crime. 

Steps were immediately taken to arrest the perpetrators of the crime 
and bring them to speedy justice. The whole state was horror stricken at 
the sickening details of the tragedy, but the well-known desperate character 
of most of the men concerned in it made the question of apprehending them 
a very serious one. Judge William Gaslin thus relates the methods employed 
to arrest the criminals: 

^'I first heard of the lynching of Mitchell and Ketchum while- on a train 
on my way from Nebraska City to Sidney, where I was to open court the 
next morning. When I opened court there was such an excitement that 
ihere was no disposition or readiness to do business, and upon seeing an 
article in the newspaper published at Kearney by the Eaton's, denouncing 
the governor for not taking active steps to bring about the arrest of the 
murderers, and complimenting me by saying that there was one man in 
Nebraska who would see that the perpetrators of the crime would be brought 
to justice, and the man was Gaslin, I called my reporter, F. M. Hallowell, who 
resided at Kearney, and instructed him to proceed to that city on the first 
train and tell Eaton not to make further mention of my name in connection 
with the matter, as I had a plan to capture the desperadoes and did not 
want my name mentioned for fear of putting them on their guard. Late that 
afternoon I adjourned court and took the train east for Plum Creek, where 
quite a number of the Olive gang lived. I found assembled at the residence 
of Attorney General Dilworth a number of the law-abiding citizens of the 
city, armed to protect themselves against the outlaws who had threatened 
the lives of those w^ho should attempt to bring them to justice. Among 
these I now recall Captain McNamar, an attorney, and Jack MacColl, clerk 
of the District Court. I learned that all the officials of Custer county, where 
the lynching was done, either belonged to, or were under the influence of, 
the Olive gang, and as they could not be moved against by or through any 
of the officials of that county, I left on the first train for Kearney to look up 
the law and see if I, as an examining magistrate, could not issue warrants 
for their arrest, which plan I divulged to no one. I w^as in constant touch 
with General Dilworth, and soon satisfied myself that I had the authority 
and set to work preparing complaints and warrants to have the outlaws 
arrested. After I had matured my plan I met J. P. Johnson (still residing in 
Kearney, three score and ten, hale and hearty), and in conversation he re- 
marked that if the officers were afraid to arrest the criminals he would fur- 
nish men to do it if I would deputize them. I informed him that I had con- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 53 

fidentially arranged for a meeting of the sheriffs of Dawson and Buffalo 
counties, General Dilworth and a sacred few others, and invited him to 
attend. There were present at this meeting, in Judge Savidge's office, the 
judge, J. P. Johnson, General Dilworth, the two sheriffs and myself. I told 
these men the conclusion I had come to. and the complaints having been 
filed before me, I made out the wararnts for the arrest of the criminals and 
offered them to Sheriff James of Dawson county, and Sheriff Anderson of 
Buffalo county, and both declined to take or serve them on account of a 
fear of their lives, as they said. I then turned to Johnson and asked him 
to give me the names of the men he agreed to furnish, which he did, and I 
deputized them, there being, I think, five or six of them, and gave them to 
Johnson for delivery. One of the men deputized was Lawrence Ketchum, a 
brother of the man who was lynched, and another was a powerful young 
fellow by the name of Young, a deputy sheriff of Clay county. A third was 
named Pingree, and the fourth was a man from Illinois. A plan was arranged 
in strictest secrecy for a part of the men deputized to go across the country 
to Custer county to arrest part of the gang who were at the Olive ranch. 
Another party was to board a freight train at Kearney about midnight, 
which arrived at Plum Creek a little before daylight. The railroad people 
Avere in the secret and stopped the train a little before Plum Creek was 
reached, where the officers left the train and walked into town, where they 
effected the arrest of all the gang who were in the city. Lawrence Ketchum, 
Bob French and others went from Kearney, and were assisted by some of 
the constables of Plum Creek. When the other party arrived at the Olive 
ranch they found that the men they were after had fled the country. Among 
Them was the delectable Barney Gillan, sheriff of Keith county, who had 
delivered Mitchell and Ketchum over to the murderers, and who secured the 
^700 blood money paid by Olive. On the afternoon of Sunday the parties 
who arrested the desperadoes at Plum Creek landed them in Kearney on a 
freight train, where they were put in jail and a strong guard placed over 
Them. Thousands of people were at the train when it arrived with the pris- 
oners. Some of the prisoners, I think, were subsequently taken to the state 
prison for safe keeping until the April term of the District Court in Adams 
county, where the trial had been set, the prisoners wai\ang preliminary exam- 
ination before me. All kinds of lawyers, good, bad and indifferent, were 
employed by the defense, some for ability and legal lore, and some to insult 
and bulldoze the court — for which they occasionally got fined for contempt. 
The trial had not progressed long before the prosecuting attorney secretly 
informed me that he had made a secret arrangement with one of the pris- 
oners, Bion Brown, to turn state's evidence, to testify on behalf of the prose- 



54 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



ciition. Brown was in jail with the other defendants, heard and knew all 
their plans, and daily communicated the same to General Dilworth, the pros- 
ecuting attorney. He said at one time that they talked of having their 
friends, who were in disguise in the town, shoot General Dilworth and me 
and have horses ready for the prisoners, who would be enabled to escape in 
The excitement. T then gave orders for no one to occupy the gallery opposite 
where I sat, and I had a large number of bailiffs secretly heavily armed scat- 
tered over the court room, with nothing to indicate they were officers. One 
day it was reported that a number of the Texas friends of the prisoners w^ere 
secreted in the hills near the Platte river, armed to the teeth, and provided 
with good horses with which to swoop dowm on the court and liberate the 
prisoners. Other things came to the knowledge of Sheriff Lewis Martin of 
Adams county, a most excellent officer, which induced him to procure a 
company of regulars from Omaha, which was sent by the commanding officer 
as soon as possible. The soldiers were tented on the public square of Has- 
tings, opposite the hall where the court was being held. The Legislature ap- 
propriated $20,000 to be expended in the prosecution of the case, to be paid 
out on vouchers approved by me, a part of the money being paid for the 
subsistence of the soldiers. Bion Brown and Pedro, the Mexican, were used 
as witnesses for the prosecution, the latter testifying through an interpreter. 
A better witness I never heard testif}-. On cross-examination he testified 
almost, if not exactly, to what he did in direct. 

"The trial commenced in Hastings in April and continued almost through 
(.he month. Some of the ablest lawj-ers of the state were engaged on the 
case, among them being General Dilworth, the prosecuting attorney; District 
Attorney Scofield and John M. Thurston, for the state; and F. G. Hamer, 
General Connor and Hon. James Laird for the defense. An indictment was 
found against Ira P. Olive and eleven others for the murder of Luther Mitch- 
ell, and I. P. Olive and Fred Fisher were placed on trial to answer for the 
crime. There w'ere about 100 witnesses, among whom we find the names 
of Captain McNamar, Anton Abel, Louis Wamsgan, James Kelly, Phil Du- 
frand, George Sandford, A. C. Woodworth, David Blackman, George Arnold, 
Sheriff O'Brien, Dan Haskell, James Gray, H. C. Stuckey, S. C. Stuckey, John 
Myers, Andrew Pancake, E. S. Finch, W. H. Kilgore and S. R. Ritchie. Phil 
Dufrand and Bion Brown, two of the defendants, turned state's evidence and 
testified against their associates in the crime. The witnesses for the prosecu- 
tion testified to the facts substantially as heretofore related, while the wit- 
nesses for the defense confined themselves to testifying as to the good char- 
acter and reputation of I. P. Olive. As a sample of the testimony offered by 
The prosecution the following may be interesting: 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAHLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 55 



Captain McNaniar sworn: Eeside in Plum Creek. Eesided there Decem- 
ber 10, 1878. Knew Mitchell. He is dead. Saw him at Plum Creek hand- 
cuffed. A. W. Tvetchum and Barney Gillan were with him. This was some- 
where between 12 and 2 o'clock. Saw Olive at Plum Creek. Am acquainted 
with him. This is Mr. Olive (pointing to prisoner.) Saw Mr. Olive on that 
day getting off the train. No one was with him but Mr. Fisher. Each went 
towards his own home. Fisher was going toward the train when he mot 
Olive. Don't think I had any conversation with Olive that night in regard 
to taking prisoners out to Cnster. Had no conversation with Gillan about 
prisoners in his presence. Mitchell and Ketchum stayed in town about an 
hour. Saw Mitchell get in buggy with Ketchum and Dufrand and start north 
towards Olive's ranch. Know where Olive's ranch is. I have been there. It 
is north of Plum Creek. The buggy went in the same direction. I drove 
along immediately behind the buggy for several miles. Last time I saw 
Mitchell was at the house of McLean. We stopped there a few minutes, then 
drove on north towards Olive's ranch. Think it was between 2 and 3 o'clock 
when we left Plum Creek. Was about fifteen miles north of Plum Creek 
when it became dark. Lost sight of them about four miles further on. It 
was then getting very dark. Had not seen Olive up to this time. When 
twenty miles from Plum Creek I noticed three men on horseback on my right 
riding slowly. It startled me a little at first, not expecting anything. They 
were riding close together. The foremost man was Mr. Olive, here. Saw 
Olive next morning at his ranch in Custer county. This is fifteen miles 
from where I saw him the night before. I think Mr. Olive's ranch is forty-five 
or fifty miles from Plum Creek. Think it was about 9 o'clock when I saw 
him. It may have been earlier. I had conversation with Olive concerning 
the whereabouts of Mitchell. I asked him where the prisoners were. His 
first answer, as I recollect it, was that he didn't know. The next was that 
the prisoners had got away and perhaps had gone to Kearney. Saw Boblits, 
the county judge, and asked him where the prisoners were. He said they had 
gone to Plum Creek. Mr. Boblits, Louis Wamsgan, Al Wise and myself 
searched for them. Found them in a canon in the vicinity of Devil's Gap, 
about a mile and a half from Abel's ranch. They were about a mile and a 
half from the road. Mitchell and Ketchum were both dead. Mitchell's body 
was partly on the ground, down on the lower limbs. The body was held up- 
right by the chain of handcuff. Over the head of Mitchell was a rope hanging 
from the limb of the tree. The lower portion of the rope was burned off. 
The body was burned black. In some places the body was cracked open, I 
suppose by the effects of fire. The clothing was burned off. On the ground 
under the body of Ketchum, which was still hanging, were black ashes and 



56 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



more or less cinders, and under the body of Mitchell were embers covering 
three or four feet of ground in diameter. The lower limbs were down in these 
embers. Blood was oozing from his mouth. 




Showing the Burned Bodies of Mitchell and Ketchum, as Photographed 
after being brought to Kearney. 

George Sandford sworn: Live in Custer county. Reside at the house of 
Mr. Anton Abel. I was with the party that found the bodies of Mitchell 
and Ketchum. I first found the bodies. Mr. McNamar was about 200 yards 
behind me. I can describe the position in which the bodies w^ere. Mr. 
Ketchum was hanging to a tree with a rope around his neck; his head was 
about a foot from the limb to which he was tied and his feet were about two 
or two and a half feet from the ground ; Mr. Mitchell was in a kind of sitting 
position; his hands were fastened to the hands of Ketchum by a pair of iron 
handcuffs. The rope that was over the body of Mitchell was a new rope and 
hung down about a foot from the limb. It had been burned off. The body of 
Mitchell was very badly burned; one boot was burned almost entirely off. 
His body was burned to a crisp. The leg that was under the body was 
burned most; 1 think it was his right leg. The leg that was not under him 
was burned a little, but not so much as the other. There were some pieces of 
woolen cloth on the body of Mitchell, and the arm that was up and was 
fastened to Ketchum had some clothing on it. I think there was a part of one 
of the pants legs in one of his boots. Mitchell was burned to a crisp down 
to his knees. The clothing of Ketchum was all burned off except some pieces 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



57 



of clothiug in his boots; maybe some on one arm. Tlie wolves had gnawed 
some of the body of Mitchell, that is after we first saw tliem. The place of 
the burning- was one and a half miles from Anton Abel's, two and a half 
miles from Olive's ranch, and about six miles from Durfee's ranch. It is 





I. p. OLIVE 



FREDRICK FISHER 



four and a half miles from Olive's ranch to Durfee's ranch. Mr. Abel, Mr. 
Wamsgan, Mr. McNamar, Mr. Boblits, Mr. Wise and myself were the party 
that found the bodies. All on horseback except Mr. McNamar; he was in his 
buggy. It was 2 o'clock when we started to look for the bodies and in about 
twenty minutes I ran onto them. The court house in Custer is a little over 
two miles from Olive's ranch. Olive's ranch is up the river from the court 
house. Boblits and Wise came from the direction of the court house. Don't 
know whether they came from Custer or not. The bodies were some twenty 
rods from the road. The grass exactly under the bodies was not burned. 
It was burned off about three feet around. I examined the ashes under the 
bodies as far as I knew how. There were no w^ood ashes there to the best 
of my knowledge. There was plenty of wood near by. This place was on 
the road from Plum Creek to Custer. It is known as the Abel road. The 
road here runs in a canon all along, and the bodies Avere in a draw running 
to one side of this canon. There were cracks on the bodies, but I don't think 
any gashes. I think they were caused by the frost. It was on the 11th of 
December when we discovered the bodies. The coroner's inquest was held 
on the 16th of December. 



58 PIONEEE HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

The arguments of the attorneys were lengthy, able and eloquent, and 
the case was given to the jury on the evening of April 16th. A verdict was 
arrived at before morning to the effect that I. P. Olive and Fred Fisher were 
guilty of murder in the second degree. Judge G-aslin immediately sentenced 
them to the penitentiary for the rest of their natural lives, to which place 
they were taken. 

On the same day, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Judge Gaslin announced 
that he was ready to proceed with the trial of the other members of the 
gang, but it is not deemed necessary to give any further account of the same 
here. 

In conclusion, the following sketch of the Olive family, which we copy 
from a file of the Omaha Eepublican printed during the great trial at Has- 
tings, may be of interest to the reader: 

James Olive and wife are now at Plum Creek, having arrived from Texas 
a few days since. The couple are quite old, and deeply grieved over the 
recent troubles that have been recently visited upon the family. Mr. Olive is 
seventy-nine years of age, and his companion a few years his junior. They 
removed from Louisiana to Texas shortly after the close of the Mexican war, 
and have ever since made their home in Williamson county of that state, 
liefore going to Texas he was a farmer, but afterwards went into stock quite 
extensive!}'. His boys — five in number — have all been brought up to the 
same business. The oldest member of the family is Mrs. Wind, who now 
resides in Williamson county, Texas. Her husband was killed in the Confed- 
erate army and she and her children have remained at the old home ever 
since. I. P. Olive, commonly known as Prentice, or "Print" as he has been 
nicknamed, is about forty years of age and has spent most of his life in the 
Lone Star state. When the war broke out Prentice left home and joined a 
Texas regiment and remained in the rebel army until it closed. He was se- 
verely wounded at Shiloh in the thigh. Afterwards he drove a mule team 
v.ith the army until the fight before Vicksburg, where he was captured and 
shortly paroled. After the exchange of prisoners was effected he returned 
to duty and with his regiment was detailed to garrison duty at Galveston 
and there remained until the close of the war. Returning to Williamson 
county he again engaged in stock raising. His brother, Ira, the next son in 
age, remained at home throughout the conflict and took care of the stock. 
The entire family were in strong sympathy with the southern cause, but no 
others were in the army. In 1866 I. P. Olive was married to Miss Louisa 
lleno, the daughter of a small farmer and stock dealer, who was an orphan 
living with her grandfather. By her he has become the father of seven 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 59 



children, five of whom are living. The entire family are in Hastings at 
present. 

The father and boys bought considerable stock at the close of the war 
and had gathered together a considerable property. Each of the three, Pren- 
tice, Thomas and Ira, and the father had a small farm, and some distance 
from their farms they had established a range and a ranch. They had sepa- 
rate brands, but seemed to have worked together for the common good of 
(.'ach other. 

In the spring of 1870. I. P. Olive and his brother, Ira, accompanied by a 
hired man, started on a cattle drive. Several miles from home they met a 
man named Fream and two companions who had some Olive cattle in a herd 
they were driving. The Olives cut their stock from the herd, and Prentice 
Olive and Fream passed a few harsh and threatening words. Both men were 
quite angry when they separated, but no demonstrations of violence occurred. 
Some days after, Bob Olive — afterwards known in Nebraska as Stevens — in 
passing through a ravine, was fired upon by two parties who he told his 
brother were Fream and one of the two companions above named. Being 
unarmed, and a mere boy of fifteen, he made no resistance, but rode rapidly 
to his brother, Prentice's, home. A few days more elapsed when Fream and 
I. P. Olive met, the former being accompanied by a man named Whitehead. 
All were on horseback. Olive accosted Fream with the question: 

''Did you shoot at my brother, Bob?" "No, but I'd like d— n well to 
take a pop at you," was the prompt rejoinder. At this both men drew their 
revolvers and fired. In the fracas both men were badly wounded. Olive was 
several years in recovering and Fream died a short time after. At the term 
of court following this event Olive was indicted, and at the next term of court 
was tried and acquitted. 

In 1876 Prentice Olive and his two brothers, Thomas and Ira, in early 
summer, were sleeping on the prairie outside their ranch, with two white 
men and two negroes, after a hard day's work branding some recently pur- 
chased cattle. About 1 o'clock their ranch was burned and the company 
fired upon. Thomas was fatally wounded, being struck in several places by 
buckshot. One of the negroes sustained some injuries also, but the remaining 
five were unhurt. They returned the fire at random, with what effect they 
never knew. 

This was the origin of their Texas troubles. Prior to this time they 
had had no serious difficulty except with the man Fream. But this was the 
beginning of a series of very unhappy events. Some parties headed by one 
Crow, an escaped convict, had been stealing cattle and occasioning consider- 
able trouble in the country, and the Olives were expecting further trouble 



60 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

with them, but were taken unawares at this time. They immediately con- 
cluded that the party that attacked their ranch was headed by Crow. It 
afterwards transpired that a band known as the Smith party armed them- 
selves and gave it out that they feared the Olives. From this and other cir- 
cumstances the Olives concluded the Smith party had attacked them, but 
have never been fully convinced of the fact. The death of their brother 
roused a feeling of revenge, and Prentice and Robert both kept themselves on 
the watch for the murderers. One day Olive's residence was visited by two 
negroes on horseback, one named Donaldson and the other Banks. They 
had pistols strapped to their saddles, and as it was then against the law to 
carry weapons, his suspicion was excited. He went to the house, got his rifle, 
and placed himself between the negroes, who were at the well, and their 
ponies. They started for their horses, when Olive covered them and demanded 
a halt. They said they were hunting stolen horses, but had inquired of Mrs. 
Olive for her husband. Olive claims to have believed that they were sent 
there to take his life. The negroes did not heed his command that they 
should not go to their horses, which was repeated the third time. Finally 
J^anks made a spring for his horse, and Olive shot him dead. The other 
surrendered. Olive was tried within a month and acquitted. The next spring 
he came north to Cheyenne and the fall following settled at Plum Creek. 

Ira Olive is younger by ten years than his brother, Prentice, and also 
younger than the dead brother, Thomas. He was raised in Williamson county, 
Texas, since his birth, and has made cattle raising his occupation since his 
boyhood. He is the owner of a large herd of cattle alone, and in partnership 
with I. P. has other stock. At this time he has a herd of 1,000 horses north- 
ward bound. This gentleman has been more even tempered than his brothers, 
Print and Bob, and never had any shooting scrapes, and never had a lawsuit 
in his life. He is here attending the trial at present, and has brought his 
family north. They are at Plum Creek. 

Robert Olive, who was killed by Ketchum or Mitchell last winter in Cus- 
ter county, was twenty-four years old the very day of his death. He seems to 
have been the most reckless boy in the family. Rash, wrong-headed and dar- 
ing, but also generous and reliable as a business man and as a friend. He 
left Texas with two murders to his charge and was shortly indicted and a 
reward of |400 offered for his capture. He killed Cal Nutt in a saloon in No- 
vember or December about four years ago, Nutt and he had been drinking 
Together. After a time Robert stated that he must leave. As the two stood 
talking to each other Nutt fired at his companion, putting a ball through his 
vest, but not inflicting a wound. The fire was quickly returned, and Nutt fell 
back into the saloon dead, with two balls piercing his vitals, Nutt is supposed 



AND SHOKT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 61 

by the Olives to have been a member of the gang that killed Thomas, or was 
engaged by them to kill Robert, who had vowed vengeance upon the mur- 
derers of his brother. 

Six months prior to this he shot and killed a negro, who he claimed was 
stealing corn from his crib. He was not even bound over for this offense. 
After killing Nutt he left almost immediately for Cheyenne, where he as- 
sumed the name of Stevens and worked for a cattle man named Carny. It 
was his intention to go back and stand trial for those two crimes had he 
not been killed. The brothers, Ira and Prentice advised him to take the step 
he took, that of coming north under an assumed name. They did it rather 
than bear the expenses of the trial. The body of Robert was taken to the 
old home in Texas and interred in the Methodist church yard by the side of 
Thomas. The father and mother and three sisters have long been members 
of the Methodist church, and for years worshiped in this church. None of 
the boys have ever taken kindly to religion, however. The youngest Olive boy 
is about eighteen years old and is called Marion. He is now on his way 
from Texas with the herd of horses above referred to. 

Immediately after the sentence of Olive and Fisher their friends began 
proceedings for their release. The following year their efforts were successful, 
the Supreme Court handing down a decision to the effect that the prisoners 
had a right to trial in the county where the crime charged against them was 
committed. This not having been done, the prisoners were sent to Custer 
county for trial. Custer county had recently been organized from territory 
that had formerly been in two different judicial districts. The court held 
that the county was not now in any judicial district, and consequently the 
prisoners could not be tried before any district judge. This was the decision 
of two of the Supreme judges, but Judge Samuel Maxwell, the third member 
of the court, dissented from this view in what is said to be one of the ablest 
legal documents ever prepared in the Supreme Court of Nebraska. 

Under this decision the only court having jurisdiction over the case was 
the County Court. Accordingly Olive and Fisher were brought before Judge 
E. J. Boblits, but from some mysterious cause no complaining witnesses put 
in an appearance and the prisoners were discharged. 

The county judge's docket at that time was kept in an account book, and 
the court proceedings are mixed up with notes of sales and purchases of 
calves, steers and cows, together with memoranda of expenses for hay, 
barbed wire and other ranch requisites. The following, which we find on the 
same page with some items of expense incurred in the plastering of the 
judge's house shows the disposition that was made of the celebrated Olive 
case: 



62 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

STATE OF NEBRASKA,] 

Custer County, ]ss. 

In County Court Before E, J. Roblits, Comity Judge. 

I. P. Olive, W. F. Fislier, in custody of Sheriff O'Brien, tlie court finding 
no complaint on county docket and no complaining witnesses, the court orders 
that the prisoners be discharged till further proceedings can be had. 

This 17th day of December, 1880. 

E. J. BOBLITS, County Judge. 

The decision of the Supreme Court of course put an end to the proceed- 
ings against the other defendants, but in the meantime most of them had been 
allowed to escape from the various jails in which they had been confined, and 
as far as we know Olive and Fisher were the only ones that ever had to do any 
time in the penitentiary for participating in the Mitchell and Ketchura 
tragedy. 

It is said by parties who claim to know the facts that from the day of 
his release from the penitentiary I. P. Olive was a marked man, and that he 
w^as followed from place to place by a man whose only object in life seemed 
to be the killing of his enemy. This man had also trained his son to hate 
the name of Olive, and as he grew up he shared with his father the hatred 
thus instilled into his mind. Olive also had a son about the same age as the 
son of the man who dogged his steps awaiting only a favorable opportunity 
to 'wreak vengeance. At last, four years after the release, I. P. Olive and 
his son, William, were in Colorado. One evening young Olive had a quarrel 
with a stranger over a game of billiards and was shot dead. The next day, 
while the elder Olive was participating in a round-up of some cattle, he got 
into a quarrel with a man disguised as a cowboy and was instantly killed 
while trying to draw his revolver. 

Thus ended the last act of a drama of blood which is unequaled in the 
annals of crime in the great west. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



63 



Blajtng a ^^atfjiuay anti lE^^r^Dnal 



J. D. Strong. 



In every new undertaking in life, whether political, religious, or social 
reform, or the opening up of some new and untried commercial avenue, or 
settling and establishing homes in a new country, the most picturesque and 
interesting character is always the pioneer — the one who blazes the pathway. 




J. D. STRONG. 

It is said that England's people are divided into two classes— royalty, 
and the rest of the people. American history is made up of two classes — the 
pioneer and the rest of the people. 

The pioneer is in a class all by himself; he is the advance guard in every 
great enterprise; he is on the "firing line" in every contest; a stranger to 
defeat and upon intimate terms with victory, no matter how long deferred. 
In the settlement of America his ax awakened the first rude echoes of the 
woodman's craft in the primeval forests of the East and of the South. His 
rude bark first rode the waves of the great lakes, searched into their bays 



64 



PIONEEK HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



and inlets, and reared rude homes on their murmuring shores. His plow 
lirst turned the rich, black loam of the middle west, and made it yield supplies 
for the wants of many. His feet first left a white man's trail upon the arid 




'•^.-v-iifc 



Blazing a Pathway. 



sands of the "Great American Desert," and his courage and skill turned it 
into a "land of plenty." 

Undaunted and undismayed, he found his way through treacherous 
passes and over snow-clad summits of the Kockies, and at his magic touch 
they yielded up their precious metals. Cities, towns and railroads appeared 
in every valley, like the realization of some magician's dream. 

Thus from shore to shore of this mighty continent went the pioneers of 
civilization, the heroes of border strifes, the men and women who "blazed 
the pathway" for the actual settler, who followed to find a home and inde- 
pendence. 

It was in May, 1882, after the first pioneers had made a dim, shadowy 
trail, that I first found my way over the border into Custer county. I use' 
the word "found" properly, for it was an actual discovery of a most difficult 
way into the then promised land. 

In company with John M. Morrison I left the main road leading from 
Kearney to this upper country at a point in Buffalo county, in Pleasant 
valley, and went north through the hills, following a very dim trail which 
persisted in growing dimmer, and which, as darkness came on, disappeared 
altogether. Our hope was to reach McEndeffer's on the Muddy that night, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 66 

SO we pressed on, over lii<;li liills and down lon^. winding- canons, one of ns 
walking in front of the team to figure out tlie trail, and the otlier di'ivmg 
as directed by the gnide. 

A more gloomy and desolate prospect could hardly be imagined than that 
presented to ns as tlie shades of night began to come down over tlie brown 
prairie, tumbled and piled about in the most haphazard manner; high hills, 
long and terraced ridges, each line iseemiug higlier than the other, two "ten- 
derfeet" alone amidst all this waste, was enough to make one wish himself 
back to civilization again. 

After some hours — or ages, I can hardly tell which — we began to see 
cattle and horses on the range, which gave us hope. We soon struck a 
broader trail, made by the stock, leading to the ranch, and had less difficulty 
in keeping in the way. After a time I saw something just ahead of me in 
The darkness that I took for a post, a'nd believing we had come to a fence, 
I walked up to it and felt on both sides for the wires, but finding none, I put 
my hand on top of the supposed post and discovered to my dismay that it 
was a stovepipe, and still warm. 

By the time my investigations had resulted in this warm discovery, Mor- 
rison had driven the team up (juite close to me and demanded a reason for 
my stop. I explained the nature of my find, and suggested a careful backing 
up of the team for fear of a tumble through the roof, which would be likely 
to disturb the sleepers below. I had seen enough of "dugouts" to know that 
we had discovered one, but just how to get inside I did not yet know. After 
getting the team out of all possible danger, I started on a voyage of discovery. 
The problem of the lay of the dugout was soon solved to the satisfaction of 
all concerned. Of course it was dug out of a bank, but just where the bank 
ended and the house united with it I could not make out in the darkness; 
but I soon discovered that there was a s]iace of about four feet between the 
end of the dugout — which had a wall of logs at the end — and the bank which 
sloped towards the house. The way I discovered this opening was by the 
happy one of falling into it, and the way I gained admittance into the house 
was by rolling down the sloping bank and in at the window, and the way 1 
aroused the household was by alighting on a promiscuous collection of tin- 
ware, which made noise enough to stampede a bunch of plow horses. 

From the time I had started across the hills with the intention of asking 
the hos])itality of Air. McEndeffer's roof and board for the night, it had been 
with misgivings, if not with fear, as it will be remembered that he had bwn 
in some measure connected with the Olives in their fight with Mitchell and 
Ivetchum. He was a cattleman, and his interests were not enhanced by the 
settlers. What were my feelings to find myself precipitated in this fashion 



66 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



into his house and finding myself clawing and kicking around among the 
dish pans and milk pails, while a gruff voice was demanding: ''Who's there?" 
"Get out!" "Scat!" "Get a light!" "Get the gun!" and like exclamatory 
remarks, interspersed with more or less profanity and a chorus chiming in 
from other members of the family? 

Had the team fallen through the roof it would have raised no greater 
row^ than did my plunge through the window. But I finally extricated myself 
from the tinware, kettles and frying pans, and beat a hasty retreat under 
cover of the darkness and the excitement of the enemy out through the win- 
dow and around to the door, where I gave a loud rap, more in accord with 




C. D. Pellham. First Hotel and Store in Broken Bow. 

civilized ways, and when a light was procured and explanations made, and 
an inventory taken of the kitchen utensils to find what actual damage was 
done, we were made welcome, and as the ceremony of "breaking the ice" 
was not necessary after breaking my head and a milk crock, McEndeffer's 
cob pipe and several other articles of less importance, we were soon comfort- 
able and quite at home. 

The next day our journey was uneventful, and we put up for the night 
with C. D. Pelham at or near where the present city of Broken Bow stands. 
Pelham kept the postoffice and a small stock of groceries, and I might say 
the first hotel in Broken Bow\ We had often seen the puzzle of the innkeeper 
who could put thirteen men in twelve rooms, but Pelham could discount any 
such cheap John mathematical problems as that. He could easily stow away 
thirteen men in one small room. It is related of him on good authority that 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 67 

he had a most ingenious way of making six blankets suffice for a (ln/.cn or 
more guests. When late arrivals were ready to retire they were tucked 
snugly away under a blanket that was deftly removed from some guest who 
had gone to bod earlier, and w'ho, being fast asleep, would never know the 
difference. Of course if the w'eather was very cold the uncovered sleepers 
were liable to wake up after a time and make a roar, but before this stage 
was reached the other fellow was sound asleep and the covering was re- 
stored to the original sleeper. By shifting the covering judiciously and sys- 
tematically during the night, Pelham always succeeded in keeping all of his 
guests as warm as a pie in the coldest winter weather, although in cases of 
a rush of business every one of them would be uncovered two-thirds or three- 
<]|uarters of the time. 

Soon after composing myself in my blankets in a comfortable manner, I 
felt a crawling, hopping, biting sensation that set all my nerves a-going. 
After turning from side to side a few times, and some feverish use of the 
mailed ends of the digits on both hands, I closed my eyes once more with an 
abiding faith in the ''sleep of the just," but it was not to be. With a good, 
healthy, active flea with a ravenous appetite and an insatiate desire for blood, 
perched on every square inch of your anatomy, how could it be? Under 
these circumstances justice and virtue could make no plea. After considering 
the case in the most philosophical manner of which I was capable, I con- 
cluded to take up my bed and walk^out into the ''stilly night," with the blue 
vault of heaven for a roof, and the glad stars to look down upon me and 
search out my virtuous soul — and register the wrongs inflicted upon me by 
the "madding crowd" I fondly hoped I had left behind me, but it was not 
to be. If the stars saw any wrongs to record, they have not made the record 
known, and in the meantime the fleas held undisputed possession of my 
blankets. I soon abandoned them and sought the top board of a pile of 
lumber and lay down to sleep while the fleas huddled up to one another in my 
abandoned bed clothes. 

This, gentle reader, was my first experience with fleas. I had to learn 
that the flea w'as the aborigine of this new country, and that he was on the 
warpath, that he was a common nuisance, and an enemy of the settler. I had 
(0 learn that he would spill alike the blood of high and low degree, that he 
would bring to naught the pride of the haughty, vex the soul of the virtuous 
and cause to swear the pious. He w^as that common danger which brought 
all men — and, I might say, women also, as he was neither respector of persons 
nor of gender — to a common level. He annihilated caste and class distinction, 
and brought all down to the industrious plane of himself, for all had to 
scratch, and scratch we did, whether in the seclusion of our own private 



68 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

apartments, or in the brilliantly lifjhted room where vonth and beanty had 
met, or in the pew or pnlpit at church. All had to scratch, and it was not 
considered impolite to scratch any particular part of yonr anatomy that hap- 
])ened to be bitten. 

My only excuse for makinf; sncli an extended reference to this most 
amusing little pest is the fact that no true history of Custer county could 
be written without fiivinj; him some notice. To the early settler he was all 
and much more than I have made him; but, like the aborfjines of other 
countries, he has departed with the conditions that made this his natural 
home. 

The next morning we started for Merna, and at noon of that day we 
stood upon a hill that overlooked the beautiful valley that was to be our 
future home. Merna, at that time, consisted of one small sod house, with 
an annex of one room. The sod house was filled with sundry articles of 
merchandise, such as tobacco, soap, codfish, buttons and thread. A cubby 
hole in the wall served as the postoffice, and was kept by W. G. Brotherton. 
The annex was occupied by Mr. Brotherton and his wife as a living room, 
and was presided over by Lizzie, whose chief business seemed to be looking 
after the wants of new arrivals and making them comfortable and happy. 

One-half mile north of Brotherton's store, and the site of the future 
h'vely little railroad town of Merna, we struck our tent on claims previously 
hought of Samuel X. Dunning and Floyd Field. Mr. Dunning had located 
farther north, on the Dismal river, going into the cattle business. When 
the B. & M. railroad was extended through the Black Hills, a town was 
located near his home and given the name of Dunning, which perpetuates 
the name of one of Custer county's pioneers. Floyd Field also located on 
the Dismal river, or on the Loup, I have forgotten wiiich, and from a modest 
beginning in the cattle industry, he and his brother, Fred, have grown into 
two of the wealthiest ranch owners in this part of the state. I might state 
also, in this connection, that the postoffice of Merna was first kept by Mr. 
Dunning, and the name of Merna was that of his youngest daughter. After 
the railroad had been built, and the town finally and for all time located by 
the Lincoln Townsite Company, it was quite natural that the infantile city, 
struggling for life and metropolitan honors, should be given the name of the 
oiiginal postoffice, so that Merna became a fixed geographical landmark. 

It will now be my duty, as a writer of chronological events connected 
with Merna and its immediate' vicinity, to give the reader a brief and concise 
historical narrative of its fortunes, from its humble beginning to its present 
prosperous and hajjpy condition. 

First, let us note some of the "blazes" along the ])athway we have fol- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 69 

lowed, and the siuns that iti-oclaiiiicd in nnniistakablc lanp;uaj;o that the pio- 
neer had prec(Mled ns, and that the inllnence of civilization was already find 
ing its way into the wilderness, foretelling' the rise of cities and towns and 
l»rosperons eonininnities. with railroads, ehni-ches. schools, libraries, societies 
and all that goes to make np conunercial, social and religions life. 

One of the first way marks that I enconntei-ed, nj>on entering Cnster 
connty. was fonnd in a very interesting character, and a i)ione«'r who lias left 
his mark npou the historical annals of the county. Major C. S. Ellison of 
Algernon. Major Ellison was the first chip, on the first tree, that pointed 
with nnerring finger to the exact spot where the future flourishing city of 
Algernon would be built, and the name of Algernon would be forever kept 
gi'een in the memory of future generations the name of the major's favorite 
son in Nebraska politics. Hx his tact, energy and a firm faith in the future, 
the major did succeed in building up <iuite a nice little inland town, giving 
it the name of Algernon, and for a time it promised to be the fulfilhnent of 
his long-cherished dream, but the Burlington & Missouri railroad built a lini' 
up the valley; it cared not for sentiment nor the dream of Major Ellison, but 
located a town on either side of Algernon, which soon left the brown prairie 
bare and shorn of its plumage and the name of the young city became but a 
memory. 

I have given this brief sketch of the rise and fall of Algernon for the 
purpose of shedding such light upon the character of Major Ellison as will 
bring out in full relief this pioneer a.s one of the abiding way-marks to the 
settlement of Custer county. While his dream was not fully realized, and the 
town he, by his energy, actually bnilded, has crmbled away and become but 
a tradition. Major Ellison, as a forerunner and guide upon the pathway of 
civilization, still lives, and will, so long as a written history of the county 
exists. ' 

The next way-mark that spoke in tones precluding both doubt and cavil, 
that we were on the highway over which civilization must pass, was found 
in the person of C. D. Pelham, heretofore referred to. Pelhanrs store and 
Broken Bow's postoffice is now but a leaky-roofed, sagging-walled sod memoiy. 
standing on a hill in the outskirts of the present city, with its windows and 
doors boarded up, given over to rats and mice. While the old soddy is a 
tiling of the past, and is fast crumbling back to its native earth, I'elham, as 
a way-mark and pioneer is still here, a fact and a reality. 

At Merna the store and postoffice, and in fact the whole machinery of 

■the place, wais in the hands of W. O. Brotherton, who, as a pioneer and a 

way-mark was a success, and at this time, nineteen years later, he is now in 

Merna, and persists in being an active way-mark, the only real thing in the 



70 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

way of a "blaze" in the forest, an up-to-date pioneer, he refuses to let 
the moss of a desolated town, or the dirt and dust of an abandoned sod house 
to supplant him in the grateful memory of the people. 

Standing at Brotherton's store in May. 1S82. and looking out over the 
valley spreading to the west and north, one could see a few marks that indi- 
cated the beginning of a small settlement. A group of "old bachelors" off 
(o the northwest were holding various claims in various parts of the valley, 
but were mostly '^'batching" together in Al Thomas' dugout, wiiere they dis- 
cussed the future greatness of the country, and studied the faces of the four 
queens they usually held in their hands, while they mentally cogitated upon 
an improbable consignment of femininity to be shipped out to supply wives 
for this miscellaneous assortment of masculinity. 

It is only justice to these men who cut such a sorry figure at stag house- 
keeping, to say that they were all men of liberal education and refined tastes, 
and to leave behind them the influence of eastern homes and the society of 
women w^ere the worst hardships they had to endure in the wild west. 

Most of them in time found good wives, who have helped them to make 
comfortable and happy homes. In this bachelor dive were Al Thomas, Joe 
Sitler, A. Sommers, John Jacquot, Len Thomas. Charles Thomas, Scott, 
Hanna, McWorthy and others whose names I do not now recall. 

At this time had one looked inside all of the houses within a radius of 
five miles from Brotherton's store, he would have found but three women 
within the entire cirele^ — Mrs. C. P. Foote, Mrs. Brotherton and Mrs. Dun- 
ning. What we lacked in quantity, however, w^e made up in quality, for no 
new settlement was ever blest with better women to mother the community 
than this trinity of maternal excellence. They have all gone on before to 
another country, but the blessings of all early settlers in this vicinity will 
foUoW' them. 

In the spring of 1883 our town took a boom. D. S. Lohr put up a frame 
building south of Brotherton's store, and hope ran high as imagination pic- 
tured a growing city, but it proved a delusion, for Lohr soon moved his store, 
building and all, some five miles up the valley, where he founded the town 
of Dale. 

This led to the formation of a towusite company at Merna, and a town 
was located and laid out on section 36, two miles northw^est of Brotherton's 
store, and within three miles of Dale. Authority was granted by the post- 
office department at Washington to move the postoffice to the new site. Mr. 
Brotherton formed a partnership with Milton Casteel and J. D. Strong and a 
.4'reat dt^partment store was opened. W. E. Warren built a shack and hung 
out a mortar and pestle, which indicated to all concerned that he had a 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



71 



fresh assoi-tiiu'ut of dnios and a limited supply of stomach bitters for sale. 
If the business side of these ventures is not a pleasant memory to the ^en- 
llemen concerned, the old croquet ground and the old sod town hall, which 
came into existence through their untiring enegy, will always be an oasis in 
that desert of uncertain business prosperity. 




C. p. Foote's Old Pioneer House at Merna, Neb. Mr. Foote, at tliis tiije, 
was Sheriff of Custer County. 



Later, a blacksmitli shop, a frame hotel, and another store made their 
appearance, but to-day the old townsite is plowed as a field and yields its 
store of grain to feed Custer county's helpless poor, as it is a part of the 
county poor farm. 

During the summer and fall of 1886 the B. & M. railroad was extended 
from Grand Island to Alliance, and the Lincoln Townsite Company pur- 
chased Brotherton's old claim and relocated Merna on the site of its birth. 
This settled the townsite controversy and the future of Merna was assured. 

The town grew rapidly into a respectable village, with many lines of 
trade and various industries represented. Brotherton and Warren moved 
from the new Merna back to the old site, and a rush of population from the 
East caused houses to spring up like mushrooms after a rain. Mr. Wilson 
v,as the pioneer grain dealer, building the first elevator. The business has 
i>een widened under the management of his son, L. W. Wilson, until now 
they buy grain at three points in the county. 

The Merna bank was launched on its financial career by D. E. Johnson, 
,ho managed it one or two years, when he sold his interest to John Bair and 



72 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



Mae Johnson. That the institution has hccn a success is attested by that 
invisible something that always surrounds its popular cashier, and seem to 
say that prosperity is with him. 

In the early days Casteel and (lulick conducted a grocery store, Marshall 
Eddy handled farm implements, and J. J. Stanford advertised flour and 
cofltins for sale, apparently not seeing any incongruity in his business. 
Whether John expected his customers to nse the coffins soon after using his 
ilonr, or whether the coffins were the necessary suggestion from the (piality of 
the flour, he has never yet explained. 

The meat market was an uncertain (piantity for a number of years, but 
after a fitful season of meat or no meat, or who's got the meat? ''Butch" 
(George) Davidson iook hold of the meat market. That George has been suc- 
cessful is evident from his rotund appearance, which suggests hamburger 
steak for dinner every day. 

The hardware and implement business is represented by Kelly and Dun- 
can and Tim ^Nlarooney, farm implements alone by R. J. Kelly, lumber by 
Dierks Lumber and Coal Company, grain, flour, feed and live stock by N. 
Jaquot and Wilson Bros. 

Mr. Ja(]uot is one of the pioneers, and has been closely identified with 
the business interests of Merna, owns and conducts two grain elevators in the 
ccamty and has large land and cattle interests. 

Lee Gordon conducts the Merna hotel, and Peter Forney the livery and 
feed stable. Leo is a Blacksmith, and Ed Brown runs a similar business in 
another part of the town. 

J. Francis has Stanford's old stand, and while he still sells coffins, has 
discontinued the sale of flour and got L^ncle Sam to let him keep the post- 
office, where he can hand out the deadly dun instead of dispensing dyspepsia- 
promoting high patent. 

F. D. Atkisson ("Crank") conducts a large general merchandise store. 
Mrs. Barrett a department store, wiiile Ben Wells hangs gracefully over the 
chair of a tonsqrial artist when not engaged in repairing a broken finger ring 
or dissecting a ticker. 

Dr. Dow^ning attends to all the ills and ailments of the community, and 
listens with the same measure of personal interest to a long tale of suffering 
liver complaint that he manifests on receiving a fee from one of his delin- 
quents. 

Nine McC'onias conducts the drug store, and is just as happy in setting 
up the cigars to his many friends as he is in selling a box of liver pills. 

J. J. Stanford is still in business, but contents himself by furnishing sup 
plies only to the living through the agency of a general merchandise store. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 73 

John Meiiai y conducts a fnll-jifown lianicss slioj), w hen nut engaged in a sur- 
gical operation ui)on some forlcn-n and crip])led bicycle. Mr. Jayne is the 
present accommodating agent of the B. & M. railway, and L. W. ^N'ilson rep- 
resents the interests of the Lincoln Land and Townsite Company. 

We have noticed somcwlial in detail the material growth of Merna. but 
material growth in a community were hut indifferent success, if not accompa- 
nied by a corresponding growtli in mental, moral and religious activity, as well 
its a perfected i)olitical system that insures ])ersonal and public safety. All 
these have developed and kept time and marched in perfect harmony with 
the material growth of tlie town and surrounding country. 

The Merna school district was formed soon after the first settlement, 
and a sod building was erected on the claim of Andy Sommers, the work being 
donated by public-spirited citizens. I think the first teacher was a Misss 
Mendel, afterwards Fannie Reeder. Miss Ella Purcell and others contributed 
to the i)ioneer work of "teaching the young idea how to shoot." That educa- 
tional spirit has given Merna a splendid graded school, housed in a substan- 
tial two-story frame school building, with a corps of teachers second to none 
in the county. 

If it wfre more difficult to sprout the moral and religious seed in the 
new settlements, it made no less vigorous growth when once the embryofic 
Tree was above ground and receiving the sunlight of religious truth. In the 
early days the moral and religious equilibrium of the community were main- 
tained by the heroic efforts of our pioneer preacher. Elder F. M. (Iraham. 
l'"'roin an arbor made of plum brush and sunflowers in front of Brotherton's 
old store, where Elder Graham first preached to us, to two neat and com- 
modious church buildings where services are maintained fifty-two weeks in 
the year, is the outward manifestation of the inward development of the 
moral and religious forces of the town and community. * * * \Ve coiUd 
iiaul a load from Kearney for our merchants, and thus *'arn something to 
live on. The experiences of these trips were varied, sometinu's disastrous, as 
when we broke an axle or a wheel; sometimes sad, as when some poor settler 
saw one horse of his team die on the road; sometinu^s gay and pleasant, and 
(•ften ludicrous. 

T recall one incident of the latter character that happened to me on one 
of these trips. For the benefit of the uninitiated, I must begin by saying 
that the "chuck box" was a most necessary and important part of the freight- 
er's outfit. To be without your "chuck box" meant to be without your living, 
v^topping places there were on the road, but they provided you only with a 
fire to warm your chuck, and a soft spot on a dirt floor upon which to spread 
vour blankets. What would some good housewife of the East think if, upon 



74 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER (BOUNTY 



making her appearance in the kitchen in the morning, she should find a half 
dozen or more of strange, rough, bewhiskered men using her stove and munch- 
ing their "chuck" on her table with as much unconcern as if they owned 
the place? Yet this was the way we did, and the lady of the house waited 
with what patience she could for us to clear out before she attempted to 
prepare the morning meal for her own family. 




Store Building of J. D. Stratton, at Simeon P. O., Cherry County, Xeb. 
containing $2,000 in goods when photo was taken. 



But the inconvenience was not always confined to the family with whom 
we stopped. The freighter sometimes had his annoyances also. I remember 
one trip I made in midwinter with the mercury down below zero by several 
long marks. One day we failed to make our stopping place through the cold 
and snow until a very late hour. We ate a cold bite and rolled in our blan- 
kets for the night. We were up early in the morning, got a fire agoing in the 
kitchen stove and were busily engaged in thawing out our chuck, which was 
frozen as hard as a stone. I had placed a loaf of bread in the oven to thaw, 
and had my coffee made when one of the young ladies of the family appeared, 
pulled a chair up to the opposite side of the stove, opened the oven door, and 
deliberately planted her bare feet on my bread to warm them. However, I 
did not notice the humiliating — or shall I say honored? — position of my loaf 
until my traveling companion came in from attending to our horses, and we 
sat down to our chuck box to eat our breakfast. Then with innocent confi- 
dence I reached into the oven for my loaf, and grasped a set of warm, fat 
toes. I got a glimpse of that foot as it rested on my bread. It was a fat foot 
with short, fat, pink toes. I could have forgiven the annoyance had the foot 



A\D SHORT SKETCHES OF EABLY DAYS IX NEBRASKA. 75 



been an ontline of grace and beauty, but to be held up for my breakfast by a 
fat foot with chubby pink toes, was too commonpL^ce, so I politely demanded 
its surrender. Of course the young lady was surprised beyond measure. She 
had taken my loaf of bread for a brick — and ^m sure I took her for another. 

But these early hardships were not all the early settlers were called upon 
to endure. The building of the railroad put an end to the freighting, but by 
That time farms had been broken out, and the road was as much a necessity 
to carry out the surplus produce as to bring in the supplies needful. 

In 181)0 came the first failure of corn, with but a light crop of wheat, and 
four years later, in 1894, that awful year that burned everything to a crisp 
and left nothing but desolation to confront the despairing settlers. The 
"starying time" at Jamestown experienced by the early settlers of Virginia 
was no parallel to the starving time of all western Nebraska. Coming at a 
time when the wiiole country was prostrated by a financial panic that placed 
in doubt the tenure of every man's worldly possessions, served to intensify 
the hardships and sufferings of these heroic people. Many of the reports that 
went out were exaggerated and untrustworthy, but the plain truth was bad 
enough. The suffering from actual want at that time was not by any means 
the real hardship experienced, but what the failure entailed in discouraging 
the business of the country, and the consequent poverty, that took years to 
overcome. 

During the past two years, the erection of new houses, barns, and out- 
buildings in the country and towns, and the easier financial condition of the 
people in general, indicate that the poverty entailed by that black time, has 
been largely overcome, and an era of prosperity aw^aits those w^ho have thus 
far blazed the way through many difficulties, until the purple fruits, and 
the milk and honey of the promised land, are awaiting the claimants of the 
glorious reward. 

Among my personal experiences and recollections might be given an in- 
cident that occurred during the summer of 1882. Like a great many other 
settlers who came in the early days, when I had paid the "filing" fee on my 
land I had nothing left. 

One of the first essentials in opening up a new farm is a team. As an 
excuse for such a perquisite I purchased a pair of very wild and willful bron- 
chos of E. Taylor, who ran a ranch at the mouth of the Dismal river. While 
I bought the ponies without money, it was not altogether without price, and 
I think I could have wrapped them up in the great legal-looking document 
that I was called upon to execute before I came in possession of the beasts. 
I think ''Lish" filed it somewhere in a "blowout," it is doubtful whether he 
could have found the countv clerk's office at that time. However, it had the 



76 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



-^<Kr^ 




The Old Pancake Horse Ranch, now owned by Mr. J. Taylor. 

desired effect, and I "ot a hustle on myself to satisfy its demands. Amoiifj 
other diftienlt things I agreed to do on aeconnt of that h^gal-looking doen- 
ment, with its "party of the first part," and "assignees and executors," etc., 
was to work on tlie ranch through the haying season, and when the time 
came I rej)orted there for duty. The ranch was a typical cattle ranch of 
that time, with few of the conveniences of civilization. Tlie bed bugs that 
lurked in the cracks of the cedar logs of which tlu^ house was built, were 
enough to stamjirdt^ a Hock of cowboys — and they did, for we (I mean the 
cowboys and myself) took our blankets to the hay corral and slept that part 
C'f the night away that was not spent in playing "i>enny ant*'." The men at 
the ranch were a little rough at times. perhai)s, but withal a good-hearted, 
jolly lot, ready at all times for any fun, particularly if there was any hazard 
in it. T'pon (me occasion when two men came up near the ranch to do some 
bi'eaking where a tree claim had been located, there was a saddling of horses, 
lilling of Winchester magazines, and ten or a dozen shadowy forms rode off 
In the darkness and the next morning nothing was seen of the party that 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 77 

(uiue 1(> «1(> the breaking. I heard afterwards that several gentlemen called 
on the would be farmers, helped them to hitch up their horses and actually 
went a long way with them to prevent the savage men and beasts of the 
plains from hurting them. 

One day a young man came over from Cole's horse ranch and informed 
us that an old man who had been working for them had died, and in justice 
io him they intended to bury him with the honors pertaining to civilized 
burials, including a funeral oration, to be delivered by David Cole. The 
young man further announced that as a preacher was an unknown quantity 
in that region, the only spiritual medium left them would be found in a 
two-gallon jug at the ranch, whose services would be demanded on this occa- 
sion. After these elaborate preparations had been made by the Coles and 
their men, it was not like these cowmen to plead any excuse for being absent 
from a function that would not only honor the dead but amuse and entertain 
the living. 

Xow the house on the Cole ranch was not an imposing piece of archi- 
tecture, neither was it elaborate for its housekeeping appointments; one small 
room, a diminutive cook stove, a long-handled frying pan, a few pots and 
kettles, tin plates and sleeping room on the floor, or bunks nailed to the 
side of the room, a box that served the double pm^pose of a dining table and 
a convenience for playing cards, just about comprised the "outfit." It will 
readily be seen that those who had the funeral preparations in charge would 
meet a difficulty in these cramped quarters to carry on the ordinary affairs 
of the house in caring for a half dozen live cowboys, to say nothing of one 
dead one. The difficulty came to the point of solution when the time arrived 
for rolling blankets and sleep. Here were six stalwart sons of the plain who 
feared no man living, but not one would sleep with — as they termed it — ''his 
giblets the corpse." Finally the problem was solved in a characteristic way 
by standing the corpse up in a corner and opening the door, which, when 
open, swung back across this corner and completely hid it from view. 
Therefore when the boys assembled the next* day from the neighboring 
ranches to participate in the ceremonies the evidence of a funeral was not 
in a corpse present on a stretcher, but rather in the two-gallon jug on the 
table. Believing the story of the funeral to be a hoax to get the boys together 
for a big time, in which the jug was to play a prominent part, one of the 
visitors offered to bet a "ten" that no corpse could be shown. Of course the 
bet was taken and an Irishman belonging to the Cole ranch who bore the 
expressive name of "Reddy," closed the door and revealed the corpse stand- 
ing in the corner. The evidence was prompt and convincing and the "ten" 
was paid over on the spot. 



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AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 79 

It will not be necessary to j^ive iu detail all that occurred before the old 
man was finally laid in a new-made grave, but with the material at hand it 
will be easy for the reader to complete it by a draft on his imagination. The 
oration of Hon. Dave Cole is said to have been a masterpiece of "liquid" elo- 
quence. Each rounded period was punctuated by a direct reference to the jug, 
and a gurgling sound came from the receptacle of the spirits, which gave 
evidence that his appreciative audience was drinking it — that is, both the 
eloquence and the spirits. This was more than Dave could stand. He was 
willing for them to drink in his eloquence, but he drew the line at the jug. 

The old man was finally laid in his grave, with a bottle on one side con- 
taining his share of the contents of the jug, and one on the other side con- 
taining a slip of paper on which was written the man's real name and the 
place of his former home. He had revealed both his name and his former 
address just before he died. He had evidently been hiding on account of 
some crime committed somewhere. The bottle containing his name is prob- 
ably with him yet, but the bottle containing the spirits was dug up before 
the next morning by the boys in order to relieve a distressing thirst occa- 
sioned by the supply in the jug running short, as confessed by one of them 
afterwards. 

These wild roysterers of the prairie concluded that the day could not be 
better ended than by having a little amusement at the expense of some living 
man. "Eeddy" was the shining mark that attracted universal attention. It 
was well known that "Reddy" was not afraid of any man that was alive, 
and that he was a dangerous customer to "monkey with," but it was equally 
well known that he feared a ghost to the point of frenzy when his superstitious 
fears were aroused. A game of penny ante was started and "Reddy" and some 
more of the boys engaged in cards while the rest were hatching up a plot 
that was to be the undoing of the Irishman and fun for the boys. It was 
settled that as Dave Cole had acquitted himself with such credit as an orator, 
that he would do equally well in impersonating the ghost of the old man, and 
at the appointed time he was to take his place on the sand knoll by the grave, 
dressed in something white, that would seem to be in keeping with the 
accepted idea of ghostly raiment. 

As the shades of evening began to steal down over the sand hills, one 
of the boys proposed a rest from the game for a time, while they either 
sang songs or told stories. "Reddy," being a singer, favored singing, but 
the rest, being in the plot, were in favor of story-telling, and some one was 
designated to begin, the first story proving to be a most gruesome tale of 
a ghost. The subject of ghosts being introduced, it was quite natural that 
each in turn should tell a ghost story also, and at the same time make it 



80 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

more horrifvinji' than the one that preceded it. Had a collection of these 
tales been kept and published, I am of the opinion that it would have made 
one of the most unique books ever placed on the market, and a classic in 
fjjhost lore. As the darkness became more intense, and the stories more blood- 
curdling, "Reddy's" flaming shock of hair seemed to stand on end, his mouth 
was wide open, and his eyes found no resting place, but searched out every 
dark corner with evident fear. It soon became apparent that "Reddy'' was 
in "tone," and that his hour had arrived. Dave, feeling a little fear of 
"Reddy's" quick and accurate aim with his six shooter, thought best to put 
a question to him before retiring to do the ghost act, so he said: "Reddy, 
what would you do if you saw a ghost?'' "Do?" said Reddy, "I would plug 
at it six toimes wid me gun as fast as I knew hoAv." "Now," said Dave, "let 
me give you a little advice. Don't you ever draw a gun on a ghost. I knew 
a fellow out west that undertook to do that, and when he threw up his gun 
to shoot his arm withered in a second, and he never got over it." While 
this grave statement of Dave's might have protected him, yet it is a fact 
that the boys, on some pretext, managed to get Reddy's gun away from him 
before the ghost appeared. When everything was in readiness and Dave 
had taken up his position at the grave, tvhich w^as but a short distance from 
the house, the boys began to step out one by one, and finally Reddy himself. 
At the moment he passed out of the door Reddy did the natural thing for 
him to do, that is, to look up toward the grave. Dave was just showing up 
as a white spot. He had covered himself with a wagon sheet, and had a 
ten-foot pole in his hand. The white spectre began gradually to rise, grow- 
ing slowly in height until it reached its full length. It then seemed to bend 
toward the spectators, making a motion as if reaching for them. This was 
too much for Reddy. He stood as if frozen to the ground with pure horror, 
his mouth open, his knees knocking together, his eyes bursting from their 
sockets, his hair on end, and his whole being distracted until he w-as a 
sight to be pitied even by his tormentors. But when the supposed ghost 
appeared to be about to pick him up, the chains of fear that held him were 
broken, and Reddy bolted. His red head appeared like a dying meteor as it 
shot with incredible swiftness out into the darkness, and long after the pyro- 
technics afforded by his flaming top knot had passed from sight, Reddy's 
feet could be heard pounding the sand hills in a flight so ludicrous that the 
rest of the boys fairly yelled with uncontrolled delight. 

Perhaps to the refined tastes of the reader these men may seem like the 
most heartless and depraved wretches, but in spite of their actions of that 
day and night the reverse is true. They were a lot of the biggest-hearted 
fellows one would find in a vear's travel. No one in misfortune could have 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 81 

appealed to them for help in vain. Bill Cole, the manager of this ranch, was 
one of those big-hearted fellows who, if he had but one crust, the man with 
none could share it with him as long as it lasted, and no questions asked 
about his pedigree or habits. A number of them were known to me and 
they were all of this type. They had taken this old man in and cared for him, 
not because they needed him, but because he needed them. They had done 
everything they could for him while he was alive, and when he was dead and 
beyond their power to aid, the funeral served as an outlet for their over- 
flowing spirits. Neither would they use Reddy's superstitious fears to do 
him any real injury, for when he did not immediately return each man sad- 
dled a horse and all preparations were made for a search through the hills, 
when the}' heard the heavy footfalls that announced Reddy's race in. Reddy 
said he remembered nothing after his bolt from the ghost until he came to 
liimself a mile or so from the ranch. Then when he realized where he was, 
frightened more than ever, he returned to the ranch Avith no less celerity 
than he had left it. These are the facts, as I got them from one who was 
there. 



3b00 ®antiy'0 Kemint^cntcBS of (Early I^ays 



In the fall of 1876, in company with Charles Penn, I left York, Nebraska, 
and came up into Custer county on a hunt. We arrived after dark at Mr. 
Murphy's place on Clear creek. On our approach the dogs began a violent 
barking, and suddenly the lights Avent out. 

We thought rather strange at this, but proceeded to knock on the door 
several times before we received any response. 

Finally a childish voice rang out on the night air with a determined and 
rather angry accent: "Who are you and Avhat do you want?" 

"We are hunters, and wish to stay all night." 

''That's too thin. LeaA'e or I will shoot through the door." 

"Say, Sis, where is your pa?" 

"That's no concern of yours. Leave or I'll shoot." 

We thought discretion the better part of valor, and got out of range of 
the door, and finally convinced the two plucky little girls within, who were 
only about ten and fourteen years old, that w^e were friends. They had heard 



82 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



the dogs bark and took us for Indians or horse thieves, and had turned out 
the light, got the gun and proceeded to "hold the fort." We learned that Mr. 
Murph}' and his wife had not yet returned from a cedar canon near by, where 
they were loading cedar to take to Grand Island the following da v. 





JESS GANDY 



MRS. JESS GANDY 



There could be quite a romance written about this family. Mr. Murphy 
had a few cattle and the two children had to do the herding and have had 
to subsist for three weeks at a time on a small grass nut which they dug 
while herding their cattle. But to return to our story: Mr. Murphy and his 
wife came in presently and we were hospitably entertained and next morning 
directed to Mr. McEndeffer's place, Mr. Murphy's closest neighbor, on the 
Muddy, about ten miles in a southwesterly direction. We had only proceeded 
a short distance when we sighted a band of elk, and everything else was 
forgotten in the exciting chase which ensued. We found ourselves at night 
over twenty miles out of our course, and in the midst of a genuine Nebraska 
blizzard. W^e selected a sheltered place on the banks of the Muddy, where 
we could obtain fuel, and camped until morning. We lost sight of the elk 
the previous evening among the hills, not having been able to get a single 
shot at them under 700 yards. 

In the morning it was still storming and we retraced our steps and 
arrived at McEndeffer's the following evening. We hunted with Mr. McEn- 
deffer about a week, and had splendid success, having killed several deer. I 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA 83 

will say Charley Penn is the only inau 1 evei- saw who euuld shuuL quicker 
than I can. 

While on this trip we camped all night in an old deserted sod house and 
found a large heap of tumble weeds and tickle grass blown up into one corner 
of the room. 

Being very tired, we did not stop to investigate what might be hidden 
under this immense stack of debris, but proceeded to spread our tarpaulins 
on it and make our bed. 

After a little Charley was snoring away at the rate of about three knots 
an hour. I felt our bed move, but thought it must be my imagination. After 
a little the movements beneath became so violent there could be no mistake 
that there was something underneath our bed. I remembered when a boy of 
hearing that circumstances sometimes make strange bedfellows, and I thought 
we "had "em sure." I nudged Charley quietly and whispered: ^'Charley, 
there's something under our bed." But I might just as well have talked to 
the sod walls. He kept right on sawing wood. The rolling and tumbling 
motion continued with still greater violence every minute, until we were 
beginning to get seasick. I got desperate, and, springing up in bed, fairly 
shouted in Charley's ear: ''Charley, there's something alive under our bed," 
and Charley came back from dreamland with a snort and puff just as we 
began slowly sinking toward the ground and the heaving and surging motion 
ceased. Looking out towards the door we saw a long procession of little dark- 
looking objects with white stripes on their backs, filing out of the door, and 
we then realized that we had been sleeping on top of a family of skunks 
which had taken up their winter quarters in the place. 

Once during the isummer of 1881, while Jess still lived near West Union, 
he and his wife were out gathering wild fruit. Jess was a short distance 
from the wagon. He heard a shot, and rushing out, found his wife had shot 
a four-pronged buck. But he proved to be only stunned. What was to be 
done must be done quickly, as the buck was liable to jump up and get away at 
a second's notice. The suddenness of the thing rather rattled Jess. He had 
no more ammunition, and not even a jack knife to cut his throat. He was 
indeed in a dilemma. A dozen different plans Hashed through his mind in a 
few seconds as to the best way to kiU the buck, and he saw with alarm that 
he showed signs of coming to his right mind. He was so excited he forgot he 
could take off his neckyoke and dispatch him, but what he did do was about 
as funny as Judge Kilgore is said to have done in the winter of '80. The 
judge packed water two miles for several weeks through two feet of snow, 
till some one suggested that snow, when melted, made water. But we left 
Jess with the buck showing signs of returning life. All at once a bright idea 



84 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

occurred to him, and quick as a flash he had acted on it, and had dumped 
Mr. Buck into the wagon and tied him with his halter ropes. Then, sitting 
astride his head and neck, yelled, ''Let 'em go," and Mrs. Gandy did "let 'em 
go," for Jarvis Kimes' farm, a distance of half a mile east across the prairie. 
They had gone but a short distance when the buck came to his senses, and 
finding Jess astride of him, a struggle for life ensued between the two. It 
was just about an equal match, and for some time it was a matter of doubt 
which would come out on top. The buck had free use of his hind legs and 
when he brought them down on the sides of the wagon box it looked as if 
he would soon kick the wagon to pieces. The noise frightened the ponies and 
away they flew, up hill and down hiU, over the rough ground, Mrs. Gandy 
holding them straight ahead and letting them go. The sharp feet of the deer 
tore Jess' clothing into ribbons and bruised his body fearfully. He had a 
veritable white elephant on his hands, and when the ponies dashed up to the 
door of Mr. Kimes he was about exhausted, and panting and gasping for 
breath, his face flushed and the perspiration rolling down his face in big 
drops. He was only too glad to get some assistance to dispatch the buck. 

In September, 1881, Mr, Gandy was making hay with a neighbor, Mr, 
Lyle, three miles west of the river, coming home only on Saturday nights, 
Mrs, Gandy being left at home to look after the cattle. One Saturday evening 
a man came to the house and got his supper, telling Mrs. Gandy that he had 
eaten nothing for two days. He was a pitiful looking object. He had a 
blanket rolled up on his back and carried a pair of shoes in his hand, his feet 
being so swollen that he could not wear them. After he had eaten his supper 
he requested of Mrs. Gandy the privilege of staying all night. She told him 
that she was alone and that he would have to seek accommodation elsewhere. 
As he had come down the river in a boat, and there was a settlement at West 
Union, two miles further on, he started off and Mrs. Gandy got her pony and 
proceeded to round up her cattle. She returned, attended to her milking and 
other duties, and went to the house, it being by this time quite dark. When 
she entered the house what was her consternation to discover the stranger 
sitting upright in bed, with two huge revolvers lying by his side and a 
number of papers scattered about him. When she came in he remarked to 
her that he was maldng himself at home. She replied: "I should think you 
are," and left the room. As it was Saturday night, she knew that Jess 
would be home about 11 o'clock, so she took her horse and started for Mr. 
Lyle's, meeting her husband on the way. When they returned to the house 
they found the man still sitting up in the bed, groaning with the pain in his 
swollen limbs. He begged to be allowed to remain so piteously that they 
had not the heart to turn him out, and he was allowed to remain until morn- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 85 



ing, although they suspected that he was a criminal. The supposition proved 
to be correct, as it was afterwards learned that he had robbed a postofiQce 
at Stem's ranch. 

A funny incident is related of the experience of Jess in trying to ride 
a buffalo. He had made his boast that he was going to ride the first buffalo 
he saw. Shortly after that, while out hunting one day, he came across four 
or five of the beasts. He fired at short range and shot an old bull through the 
lungs, which dropped down on his haunches and dropped its head, the blood 
coming out of its nostrils. Jess thought this would be an excellent opportu- 
nity to mount and to make good his boast. He succeeded in getting on the 
back of the dying buffalo, but soon found that he had mounted a very lively 
corpse, as the old fellow came to his feet with a bound and started off at a 
rapid pace. Dave Hickman, who was an eye witness of the performance, 
declares that at the second jump of the scared buffalo Jess was thrown about 
fifteen feet into the air. He came down on his feet and lost no time in 
making for a tree about a hundred yards distant, into which he climbed, 
while the buffalo was flying in the opposite direction. 



>unftng BxifalD nu fl;c (ilr^af J^Iains. 



A. S. Burgher. 



I have just been reading a communication from Dr. Carver. I knew 
Carver quite well and was at his place in 1873-4-5. I was a buffalo hunter 
and trapper. Carver hunted altogether on horseback, but the regular buffalo 
hunters, or hide hunters, as they were sometimes called, killed their game 
by what we called the still hunt — that is, on foot. I alw^ays aimed to get 
within three or four hundred yards of the herds, and by firing a few times 
with my long range Sharp's rifie, break the backs of two or three of the old 
cows that were leaders. As they crawled around on their front feet the 
other buffalos would gather about them in alarm and curiosity, which enabled 
us to approach a little closer, getting what the hunters called a ''stand." I 
have frequently killed as many as forty buffalo at one stand, usually firing 
about three shots for each hide. This was considered good work. Sometimes 
we had to take to our heels, as many wounded buffalo would be on all sides, 
and they were very dangerous. We called them "spike bulls." We always 



86 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COTNTY 




Passing Away. 



aimed to kill all the bulls, as their hides were worth a dollar more than 
those of the cows, the average value of a bull hide in 1875 being $2,15. Forty 
bull hides made a good load. It cost us seven cents for ammunition every 
shot we fired, and when I say that I kept an account until I had used $2,200 
worth of ammunition in killing 5,000 buffalo and other game, my readers may 
be incredulous. J. N. Dubois, a prominent hide buyer of Kansas City, told 
me at Buffalo, on the Kansas Pacific railroad, in 1874, that during ten months 
of that year 18,000 hides per day were marketed, with 500 outfits in the field, 
making thirty-six buffalo killed per day by each outfit. Carver is right. Had 
we foreseen how rapidly the buffalo would be exterminated and how valuable 
their hides would soon become, we might have made our fortunes. The car- 
casses that were left rotting on the plains by the millions might also have been 
utilized. There were a few meat-drying concerns, but they did not appear to 
be a success. 

All kinds of men were in the buffalo hunting business, some for profit 
and others for sport. Wash Reasoner, a Kansas senator, was quite a sport 
in that line, while preachers, lawyers, roughs and toughs all met on a com- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OP EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 87 



raon level to slaughter these noble animals. I have seen General Phil Sher- 
idan forsake the company of aristocratic military attaches to share a meal 
of buffalo tongue and brains with Miller and Lamb's hunting outfit. Peak 
and Campbell were the largest outfit on the plains, working from thirty-five 
to forty men. 

"The Slaughter Pen," taking its name from the great number of buffalo 
killed in that vicinity, on the Arkansas river, was the center of the range. 
There were comparatively few hides sold along the line of the Union Pacific 
railway, although vast herds existed in the Platte valley long after the build- 
ing of that road. The Grand Duke Alexis of Eussia, accompanied by a party 
of American officers and others, spent a short time south of the Platte river, 
a part of the time engaged in buffalo hunting. About the same time Dr. 
Carver, Buffalo Bill and assistants were trying to catch live buffalo to be 
shipped to a man at Niagara Falls. They finally succeeded in getting one old 
bull across the Platte river, after which they gave up the job. 

One would hardly believe at this day that no longer ago than 1874 there 
were countless thousands of buffalo roaming over the valley of the Republican 
river. Their tramp shook the earth like the tread of a vast army, and in 
crossing the river they made a continuous roar mingled with a low rumbling 
*'m-o-o," that sounded like an approaching storm of the early Nebraska type. 

The professional buffalo hunter was a peculiar being, and had some char- 
acteristics that distinguished him from all the rest of the world. When talk- 
ing to you he would invariably be scratching his leg with one hand and rub- 
bing his side with the other elbow, as if by perpetual motion he could keep 
quiet what he called "buffalo mange," or, in other words, "line backs." Dur- 
ing this operation he would be telling you how, that morning, he had run onto 
a herd of buffalo, killed forty of them, slipped up to an old bull and cut his 
hamstrings, etc. 

There were certain established rules governing buffalo hunting which 
were lived up to by common consent, and were never violated by a regular 
buffalo hunter. For instance, if an outfit was camped upon the head of some 
stream, another outfit would never camp above it, even if it had to procure 
water by digging in the ground, for in so doing it would interfere with the 
buffalo coming into the water. When camped along a stream the outfits 
always took care to be at least a mile apart. 

When the buffalo came north of the Kansas Pacific railroad it would be 
some time before the hunters would follow. Everything would be quiet along 
the Republican, the Sapa, Red Willow, Chief creek and other streams, and 
the intermediate country would soon be black with the immense herds. Some 
still morning the decisive report of a Sharp's or a Remington would be heard, 



flONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNT 




Powell Canon. 



and by noon there would be a continuous fusillade up and down the various 
streams. By night the adjoining hills would be dotted with hundreds of 
buffalo carcasses glistening in the setting sun, robbed of their hides by the 
army of western civilizers. Each outfit had its hunter for each day. He 
mounted his horse in the morning and started out, the balance of the camp 
waiting until they heard him firing, then with a wagon the skinners followed 
the sound of the gun. They became so expert in recognizing the reports of 
the rifles of the different hunters that they always knew just where their 
particular hunter was working. When the hides had been hauled into the 
camp they were stacked up and the outfit put in their time loading shells for 
the next day's hunt. 

At one time a party of Utes came near our camp on a hunting trip and 
some of the young bucks tried to stampede our horses, of which we had six. 
Failing to scare them otherwise, they began firing arrows at them. We did 
not propose to put up with this impudence, so we got out and prepared to 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 89 



defend ourselves. One of our party, being a little hasty, was on the point 
of firing on the Utes, when George Washington, an old chief, rode up and 
ordered them away, thus averting what might have been serious trouble. 
Near the same time Sitting Bull, who had secured a permit from the govern- 
ment, came down to hunt, accompanied by about a hundred young Sioux. 
South of Julesburg the young Indians came across a hunter's camp with only 
one man in it. They pounded him with their bows until he thought he would 
be killed and then proceeded to cut his furs into pieces. The hunter backed 
into his dugout and got his ''big fifty" and w^as about to string a dozen or so 
of his tormentors on a bullet, when up comes Sitting Bull. He went after 
the bucks with his bow, cracking their heads right and left, and killing two 
of them with his revolver. He subsequently made the young men kill and 
bring to the hunter the same number of hides they had destroyed, besides 
giving him two horses. 

The name of the hunter referred to above was McGuire. He was after- 
wards murdered on the Frenchman creek, fifty miles southeast of Julesburg, 
by a man named Dodge, who had followed him from Arkansas. Dodge was 
arrested and tried and found guilty. His attorneys made a motion for a new- 
trial and Dodge was kept in the jail at Nebraska City. It is said that while 
Dodge was in jail there that a brother of McGuire secured a position as watch- 
man at the jail, where he killed Dodge one night, claiming that the prisoner 
was trying to escape. There were comparatively few cases of this kind on 
the range, and none by regular buffalo hunters. 

Sometimes hide thieves followed us and took skins that had been piled 
up while the hunters were following the herd. These fellows frequently met 
with disaster by the unexpected return of the owners of the hides. Nearly all 
of the carousing done around gambling holes on the frontier and laid to 
buffalo hunters was done by sharks and thieves who followed in the wake 
of the regular and orderly buffalo hunter. 

The Indians made considerable trouble for some of the buffalo hunters, 
although our outfit fared very well in that respect. Upon one occasion my 
two brothers and myself w-ere trapping on Indian creek, when a party of 
seventy-five Sioux passed through and struck our camp. They made me cook 
dinner for them, and while I was at work a number of them danced around 
me with their arrows drawn tightly and pointed toward me in a manner that 
made me exceedingly nervous. They ate everything in sight, and you may 
believe we felt thankful that they let us off even thus easy. An Indian by 
the name of Big Blue used to come up on the head of the Republican river 
To hunt, and in 1872 three intermediate Sioux chiefs came to his camp. A 
trapper known as Nebraska Wild Bill, and his partner, killed the three Sioux, 



00 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Indian Camp. 



Whistler, chief of the cut-off band of the Ogalallas, Fat Badger and Stinking 
Hand. This outrage was committed in the fall. The winter following my 
brothers and myself trapped on the Stinking Water, and the Whistler band 
was near us all winter, but they never molested us. They knew who killed 
the chiefs, and Nebraska Wild Bill never dared come up on the Republican 
after that. 

Hank Clifford, a trader, John R. King, myself and brothers, were about 
the first settlers of what is now Red Willow county. Bang was an old 
soldier of the regular army, and a better shot with a needle gun would be 
hard to find. He professed great friendship for the Sioux, but they attacked 
him on Pumpkin creek upon one occasion and got the worst of it. He after- 
wards told me he had killed thirteen of them, and I do not doubt it. They 
crippled him for life, and his finger nails were worn off until they bled, dig- 
ging into a bank for protection. After he had the Indians routed he went 
sixteen miles on one leg, with his gun for a crutch. The Indians captured 
his furs, team and camping outfit. King afterwards received pay from the 
government for the loss of his property. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 91 



In 1807 Lieutenant Williams and a party of sixteen government sur- 
veyors were missing. In 1869 I was engaged in mowing liay four miles from 
Indianola. on the south side of the Republican river. I ran into what proved 
to be an eight-inch tracing compass. It was buried in the sod with one sight 
sticking out. I also found there a heavy rifle with ''Lieutenant Williams" 
engraved on the brass side plate. Many a trapping and lumting outfit, to 
my certain knowledge, came up missing in that part of the country about that 
time. Two men trapping on Big Timber creek were run out by the Sioux. 
They got away, but that was all, and the Indians got everything they had, 
including three baking powder cans full of arsenic. The men said they hoped 
the red devils would think it was baking powder and make some bread with 
it. Perhaps they did, but they likely tried it on a dog first. 

Three men, Carrothers, Doan and Rogers, were making quite a good 
thing about this time in the business of catching wild horses on the range 
south of Julesburg. When they found a herd they would follow it slowly 
and turn in some tame horses with bells on. In eight or ten days the 
whole herd would be so tame they could be easily corraled. Ned Buntline 
gives a description of the trained horses that perform in the Wild West shows 
and the marvelous performances of some of their riders, but some of the 
everyday exploits of common hunters on the plains in these early days far 
eclipsed anything that a Wild West show ever exhibited. We could not all 
be Codys, Wild Bills, Bloody Dicks, or Scar Faced Charleys, but some men 
who made no pretensions to great skill and who did not court notoriety did 
things that would sound well in a dime novel. In 1869 the soldiers had cap- 
tured a band of Sioux and were bringing them down the south side of the 
North Platte river. Another band of Sioux were following them up on the 
opposite side of the river, evidently watching for an opportunity to get some 
advantage of the troops or to aid any of the prisoners who might try to 
escape. When near Ash Bottom, and simultaneously with the arrival of the 
wild horse outfit referred to above, one of the Indians in charge of the soldiers 
jumped into the river and struck out for the north side, swimming and diving 
like a muskrat. The soldiers fired repeatedly at him, as his head appeared 
above the water, but missed him every time. He had almost reached the 
other shore when Rogers, the wild horse man, rode up, and, firing from the 
ground, shot the redskin through the head. The balance of the prisoners 
witnessed this exhibition of skill on the part of a man who made no preten- 
sions of skill with a gun, and from that time on Rogers was a marked man, 
and suffered the loss of horses and camping outfits a number of times at the 
hands of the Indians. He had to quit hunting, and learned that fair play, 
even with Indians, is good policy. 



©2 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



In 1878 the Utes were camped thirty-five miles south of the Platte river 
and eighty miles from Greeley, Colorado. A hunting party of Sioux, headed 
by Sitting Bull, was camped at Julesburg, where they had seven or eight 
hundred lodges. I had a camp near the Utes. They made great preparations 
for war, but that was all there was of it. They were afraid, and the Sioux 
daresn't. However, a party under Ute Charley and Ouray, the council chief, 
made a raid on the ponies of the Sioux at Julesburg. They had two horses 
apiece, and the boys who were to do the stampeding were securely tied to 
their ponies. It is said the Utes waded from island to island in descending 
the Platte river. They succeeded in running off about a thousand ponies, be- 
sides getting away with 400 of the best horses of the Sioux. 1 was at Kemp- 
ton and Brush's ranch, thirty-five miles from Julesburg, when the Sioux came 
up, following the Utes. They went no further than the top of a big bluff, four 
miles from the ranch. A few miles in advance of where they stood we could 
see the cloud of dust that indicated the position of the party with the stolen 
ponies. There were several hundred of the Sioux in full war paint, and also 
a number of squaws, who had probably been brought along to cook, for they 
certainly did some around the ranch that night and the following day, as 
squad after squad came in from the front to report to superiors. As far as I 
could see they were making a great show and accomplishing little. T^'enty- 
five white hunters could have made those Utes drop the horses in a hurry, 
but these several hundred cowardly Sioux did not dare to attack an enemy 
which they outnumbered ten to one. The Sioux ate up and took everything 
about the ranch. Among other delicacies, they cooked a number of skunks 
that had been poisoned for wolf bait, which my outfit had scattered up and 
down the river. We never learned whether the poisoned meat did any dam- 
age to the Sioux. It is hard to kill an Indian. 

Twenty-five miles south of the Platte is a high elevation called Cap Rock. 
In 1874 there were numbers of Indian skulls and bones scattered about the 
vicinity, the result of a massacre of Sioux by the Pawnees. The Sioux were 
exhausted from a rapid retreat from Carr's troops. The Pawnees took ad- 
vantage of this and we have it from good authority that they killed 200 of 
their enemies. This massacre occurred in 1S6G. In 1874 the Pawnees were 
permitted by the government to go upon the Republican to hunt. When re- 
turning, and near where the town of Culbertson now stands, they saw a large 
herd of buffalo approaching their camp, which was secreted in a sort of 
canon. All the bucks that were able to do service were soon out after the 
big game, which led them a merry chase, while a band of Sioux, who had 
planned this trap which their hereditary enemies had so easily fallen into, 
rushed down into the camp of the Pawnees, where a sickening slaughter of 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 93 

old men, squaws and pappooses took place, the miinber butchered being in 
all 184. Swift intelligence of the presence of the Sioux in their defenseless 
camp soon reached the hunters, but instead of rushing to the defense of their 
squaws and pappooses, they flew the other way as fast as their ponies could 
carry them, while the Sioux retreated with equal haste in the opposite direc- 
tion. Three days later I visited the ground. In the meantime a heavy rain 
had washed the bodies of the Pawnee women and children into a winrow at 
the bottom of the gulch, a horrible example of Indian revenge and cruelty. 
The Sioux had waited since the massacre of 18GG to wreak vengeance on their 
enemies, and when they had accomplished the ghastly work they boasted of 
their prowess. The Pawnees were never seen in that region again, although 
in former days that was one of their favorite resorts. Our camp was but a 
few miles from the scene of the massacre, and we heard the firing, but paid 
little heed to it as something that did not concern us. Pawnee Killer (a 
Sioux) afterwards told me the Sioux drove the herd of buffalo down in order 
\r\ draw the Pawnee men away from their camp. 



^Blt) lip by Hack Bulau. 



On Saturday night last a prisoner named Nolan, confined in the jail at 
Plum Creek on the charge of murder, made his escape. He was supposed to 
be a member of the Milton gang, and was handcuffed and shackled in his 
cell, but on Sunday morning he had flown. The shackles had been sawed off, 
as were also the bars of the window. Some parties were in town on Satur- 
day evening who were suspected of being members of the Milton gang, and 
as they were also gone on Sunday morning, it is supposed that they sawed 
off the bars from the cell and assisted Nolan in getting away.— Kearney 
Press, April 14, 1879. 

On the Sunday morning referred to in the above clipping from a Kearney 
newspaper, a man might have been seen on foot slowly approaching the bluffs 
which border the Platte valley to the north of Plum Creek. The sun was 
just rising over the miniature mountains, casting long shadows over the beau- 
tiful plain and tinting the myriads of dewdrops with the colors of the rain- 
bow as they sparkled like sapphires and topazes on every blade of grass. It 
was a scene which might have entranced poet or painter, but the solitary indi- 
vidual whom we have mentioned appears to be insensible to the beauties of 
nature which surround him. He strains his eyes in the early morning light 



94 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



as he scans the horizon behind as if fearful of discovering some pursuer on 
his trail. Shortly he comes unexpectedly upon a little sod house 
nestled among the hills, from the chimnev of which a thin column 





JOHN FINCH. 



RALPH DAHL, 
A prosperous young farmer, near Westervell. 



of smoke ascends into the calm morning air, indicating that even at this 
early hour the inmates are astir. At the same time hpnest John Downey 
and his wife discover a stranger approaching their abode and wonder who 
it can be so early in the morning, and afoot, a means of travel quite rare in 
days when broncos were so plentiful. The stranger advances to the door, 
makes a polite bow and inquires: ''Can you give me some breakfast and 
show me the way to Olive's ranch?" 

"Yes, sir, I think we can, if you can put up with the kind of grub poor 
folks has to live on,-' replied John, "and by keepin' that road yonder, which 
is called the Plum Creek road, you'll come to the South Loup river about 
fifty miles north of here. Folks in this country don't travel much afoot," 
added John. 

"No, sir, I suppose not; nor was I expecting to make the trip on foot. T 
expected to come with some friends who were to meet me at Plum Creek. 
They will probably overtake me before I get there." 

The scant meal finished, the stranger asked to rest awhile before pursuing 
his journey. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 95 



"All right," replied Mr. Downey, "but ye'll have to excuse me, as I have 
to work." 

While the stranger had been eating his keen eye had taken an inventory 
of the furniture of the house, which consisted of but a single room. The ob- 
jects which most interested him were a long needle gun and a belt containing 
a quantity of loaded shells, which hung upon the wall. John had been gone 
but a short time when the stranger stepped across the room, coolly took down 
the belt, buckled it around his waist, picked up the gun and walked out of the 
house, Mrs. Downey looking on in open-mouthed astonishment at the impu- 
dence of the fellow. 

"What are ye doin', sir? Drop that gun or I'll call ray husband, who's 
not far off." 

"Very well, madam; call him as quick as you please; but I need this gun 
in my business and I intend to take it along. Good morning." 

No sooner had he started for the main road than Mrs. Downey rushed out 
and gave the alarm to her husband, who was at work a short distance away. 
Securing a handy' pitchfork, he went after the bold thief and demanded the 
return of his property. But the stranger stood him off and advised him to go 
back about his business, which would save him from having any trouble, 
and perhaps from having his head blown off. With this grim hint he re- 
sumed his journey. 

Two days later a man could have been seen standing upon a high point 
of land near the Plum Creek road, about thirty-five miles north of that town, 
leaning on a long gun and gazing intently to the northwest. 

"Well, this is bucking the tiger with a vengeance, and I am going to 
lose, unless my luck changes soon. I haven't tasted water nor food for two 
days and I can't hold out much longer. If I could run across Milton or some 
of his boys, I could snap my fingers at Dick James and his hellhounds of 
the law." 

Had we looked closely w^e would have recognized the stranger w^ho had 
breakfasted with the Downeys some two days previously. He had a rather 
refined appearance, was fashionably dressed in a dark suit, with Prince 
Albert coat, altogether unlike the popular conception of outlaw, and horse- 
thief of the wild plains of the West. He was about thirty-five years of age, 
of rather stout build, dark complexioned, and possessed a pair of glittering 
black eyes through which the devil that was in him could be discovered at a 
glance. 

The reader will have guessed by this time that this man is none other 
than Jack Nolan, the notorious outlaw and gambler, who had recently shot 
and killed a Mexican at Sidney, and who had broken out of the jail at Plum 



96 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



Creek as recounted above. While the news item at the head of this article 
would seem to indicate that Milton or some of his men had been implicated 
in the jail delivery, such was not the case. Had Milton been the agent 
tlirouoh whom Nolan had been liberated the fugitive would have been pro- 
vided with a horse on which to get away, and not have been compelled to 
adopt the slow and unprofessional method of "hoofing it" — and unarmed 
at that. 

Continuing his solilocpiy: "Jim said that Milton was up in Powell canon, 
wherever that is. But there is the Plum Creek road; I'll drop down to that, 
rest awhile and try to think up some scheme to get a horse." 

He descended, almost sliding, to the base of the steep bluff, and threw^ 
himself down on the short grass by the side of the road, keeping a sharp look- 
out up and down, however, to prevent anyone from approaching him un- 
awares. But tired nature soon asserted herself, in spite of his fears, and in 
a short time the fugitive fell into a heavy slumber, where we will leave him 
while we proceed to Olive's ranch, in Custer county, on the bank of the South 
Loup river. 

The ranch building is of cedar logs, and consisted of two parts, with a 
door and a small window in each. The roof is of split logs and poles over- 
laid with several thicknesses of sod. It stands upon a gentle incline about 
twent}' yards east of the river, which flows past in a southerly direction, 
almost hidden from view by a thick growth of timber which lines the bank 
on both sides. Corrals for cattle and horses are located in close proximity 
to the ranch house, and in the gray light of the early morning a few sleepy 
cow-boys are moving about preparing for the duties of the day. 

"'Come, hurry up, Kid; breakfast is almost ready, and if you're going to 
Plum Creek to-day you've got to get a move on you," exclaimed John Gatlin, 
the foreman, as he poked a drowsy lad in the ribs. The boy turned over in his 
bunk, rubbed his eyes lazily and wished the head push was in Jericho or some 
other seaport. However, he was soon up and storing away plate after plate 
of hot cakes and molasses while the cook wondered where on earth the boy 
was putting all the "chuck." The meal over, the lad is soon in the saddle 
headed for Plum Creek, driving four saddle horses ahead of him necked to- 
gether in pairs. The attention of the reader is directed to one of these ani- 
mals. He is a large, clean-limbed bay horse, with light-colored flanks, the 
private saddle horse of I. P. Olive, and famous all over the range as "Old 
White Flank." He is richly caparisoned with saddle and bridle of exquisite 
workmanship, made to order for the noted cattle king. The lad is John 
Finch (at this writing a popular and prominent business man of Arnold, 
in this county,) and he is on his way to Plum Creek with some horses that 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 07 



have been ridden h\ sdnic men from llial city lo tlic lancli. The rim of the 
morning snn is jus( bctiinninii to ;i|»|>eiir ovei- tlio low hills that skirt the valley 
of the Lonx> as John hears the voice of (ratlin shouting after him: "He on 
the lookout, boy, or you are likely to be held up by horse thieves." 

"All right," shouted back the boy, and with a whoop he nrged the horses 
through the river at the old ford and was soon out of sight and hearing. 

"I don't feel just right about letting that boy go alone, but Wheat can't 
be spared, and there's no one else to send. 1 lioj))' nolliing'll happfu to 
the kid." 

The boy liad proceeded on his way some tifleen miles without incident, 
and is jogging leisurely along with nothing to be seen on any side except an 
endless expanse of undulating prairie covered with short buffalo grass, with- 
out a tree or even a shrid* to break the monotony of the landscape. Far 
behind him, rising up like an impassable barrier, the hazy blue bluffs that 
hem the valley of the South Loup shimmer in the warm sunshine, while far 
ahead he can discern the divide from which he will descend into the broad 
valley of the Platte. Eternal silence reigns over this vast solitude, except for 
the occasional twitter of some little bird and the tramp of the horses' feet 
as they patter along the dusty trail. The boy has not seen a habitation nor 
a human being since leaving the ranch, nor does he expect to see either until 
he catches the first glimpse of the city towards which he is traveling. It 
might be supposed that the parting admonition of the boss would cause the 
lad to pursue his journey with some degree of nervousness, but John Finch 
knew not what fear was. Consequently when he discovered a dark object lying 
on the prairie a little ahead of him he did not retreat, but advanced near 
enough to make out that it was a man— dead, he supposed. The tramp of 
the horses awakened the sleeper, who sprang wildly to his feet and looked 
excitedly around, prepared to retreat into the draw behind him i^ necessary. 
Taking in the situation at a glance, he motioned the boy to come on. but 
young Finch, realizing his danger, sank his spins into his horse, lashed tlu' 
ones he was driving and tried to get away. But -lack Xolan was not the man 
to let an opportunity like that slip by unimproved. He leveled his gun at the 
boy and shouted: "Halt!" John knew enough about wild west life to niak.- 
him understand that halting was the proper thing to do under the circuiu 
stances, and he halted. Nolan ordered him to round up the horses, which 
John at first declined to do. l)ut finally comitlied at the solicitation el tlie 

needle gun. 

"This is the horse I want," and vaulting into Olive's hiiely chased and 
decorated saddle, Nolan detached "Old Whit.' Flank" from his fellow and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 99 



rode otf. At a slioit distance lie sli()iit<'d liack t(t tlic hoy: "Youiiji- man. if 
3'0i] see Dick James, jnst tell iiim to conu' and jid me if lie wants me." 

Finch wasted no time in comph'ting his jonruey. and as he rode into a 
livery barn at I'him Creek driving three horses ahead of him he was met by 
Jack Woods, an employe of Olive, wlio in(inired: 

"Where is 'Old White Flank?'" 

"Jack Nolan has got him." 

"What in h — is Jack Nolan doing Avith him?" 

"Well, he wanted him, and as he had a bead on me with a long needle 
gun, I had to let him have him." 

"Why in the devil didn't you follow him and see where he went?" 

This nettled the boy, and he retorted hotly: "Say, Jack, if you want to 
find Jack Nolan, get me a fresh horse and I'll put you onto his trail." 

The result of this confab was that after a hasty meal the daring lad. on 
a fast horse, was galloping over the Plum Creek road like a whirlwind. Jack 
Woods at his side. 

This man Woods was a regular dare-devil — small, wiry, active as a cat, 
about thirty years of age, and afraid of nothing. He subsequently became 
sheriff of Kearney count}- and was killed by Zimmerman and Belmont, two 
desperadoes, who he was trying to arrest at Minden. The two men were 
eating their dinner at a certain hotel and Jack attempted to capture them by 
going in at one door of the dining room while his deputy was to enter at the 
other. At the last moment the nerve of the deputy failed him and Woods 
was killed. The murderers were pursued, lielmont was shot and killed in 
the chase, Zimmerman was captured, tried and sentenced to be hanged, but 
was subsequently released on some legal technicality. 

But we are digressing. Woods and Finch headed for the Durfee ranch, 
near the mouth of the Cottonwood, in Custer county, about three miles from 
the present site of Callaway, supposing that Nolan would go there to stay 
that night. They arrived at the ranch about 2 o'clock in the morning. Woods 
held the horses while Finch called out Jim Gray and impiired if he had any 
strangers, stopping with him. Receiving a negative reply,, they proceeded 
to the Olive ranch, a few miles down the South Loup river, where they saw a 
dim light shining through one of the small windows. Finch was stationed at 
this window, while Woods, with his linger on the trigger of his gun, opened 
the door, fully intending to kill Nolan if he found him inside. But Nolan was 
not there. John (fatlin and John Wheat, the only men at the ranch, informed 
Woods that during the afternoon of the day before, while they were out. some 
one had come into the house, ate up their dinner, exchanged a long needle gun 
for a short one of the same make, a Prince Albert coat for a short riding 

L.ofC. 



100 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



coat, stolen a pair of fine blankets, and vamoosed. By the time thev had 
learned this much about the movements of the man they were hunting it 
was almost 4 oV-lock in the morning;, and having eaten a lunch and warmed 
their chilled limbs at a blazing fire of cedar wood, the tired boy, who had 
ridden over a hundred nules in twenty-four hours, was soon fast asleep, and 
did not awaken until 8 o'clock, when he found that Woods, Gatlin and Wheat 
were gone. Leaving John to look after the ranch. w(^ will follow the three 
men in theii' chase after Nolan. 




J. E. Babbit's Irrigation Dam in Soutli Loup River 
on his Ranch 



They followed his trail north as far as Spring Creek, where they came 
upon the outlaw just as he was striking camp and preparing to mount "Old 
White Flank." As soon as Nolan observed the boys he coolly threw down 
his picket rope, knelt on one knee and waited for them to approach. When 
about seventy-five yards from him he motioned for them to stop, shouting: 

"Who are you, and what do you want?"' 

"We want that horse," replied Woods. 

''You can't have him," with an oath. 

"By , we will have him," says \V()ods, preparing to jump from his 

horse. 

Gatlin grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back into the saddle, 
saying: ''You fool, he will kill you before you touch the ground." 

"Boys," said Nolan, "my life and liberty depend upon this horse, and I 
will die before I give him up. One of you may come up and talk with me. 
but the other two must stav back." 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 101 

They held a short consultation and Oatlin went forward to talk with 
Xolan, while Woods and Wheat rode back a short distance. 

"That horse yon have there is I. P. Olive's saddle horse, and that saddle 
and bridle were made for him to order. Olive is now being tried for his life 
and it isn't likely that he will ever use them again himself, but they will be 
relics that his family would not like to lose. Let me have them, and you may 
have mine, which will serve your purpose just as well." 

''Not by a d — sight; this horse just suits me and the saddle fits me, 
and you can't have either.'' 

Gatlin jileaded in vain and tinaly proposed that they go to Van Sickles' 
ranch, on the Middle Loup, above the mouth of the Dismal, where he thought 
be could procure Nolan just as good an outfit. He was so persistent that 
Nolan finally agreed to these terms, and promised to surrender "White Flank" 
just as soon as Gatlin got him another horse as good. Gatlin rode back to 
his companions and reported the arrangement, instructing them to make a 
show of returning home, but to follow at a distance so as not to be observed 
by Nolan, to ^"an Sickle's ranch, where he thought Nolan could be captured. 

The reader, who is unacquainted with the West as it was at this time, 
and who is a stranger to the habits, customs and accomplishments of the cow- 
boys and outlaws who infested the region, might suppose that it would be an 
easy matter for these three men to capture or kill the single individual of 
whom they were in pursuit. But it is not a question of main strength. Like 
all frontiersmen they were adepts in the use of firearms. The Winchester 
and the six-shooter were their inspearable companions, and were handled 
with a dexterity and rapidity that meant death at every move. Had either 
Woods or his partners made the slightest motion that suggested a resort to 
their weapons, that move would have been anticipated by the ever-alert 
Nolan, who would have had the "drop" on his enemy quick as a flash of 
lightning. 

Gatlin rejoined Nolan, and the latter, suspecting that all was not right, 
said: "See here, Gatlin; don't you put up any job on me or you'll be sorry 
for it." 

Gatlin explained that everything was on the square; that he had gone 
back to tell his companions of the arrangement that had been made, and that 
they were returning to the Olive ranch. 

The two men then set out for Van Sickle's, fifty miles away, a ride which 
would stagger the most experienced horseman of a later period, but which in 
those days of magnificent distances was considered a mere trifle. They had 
proceeded northwest about twenty miles when they entered the Muddy valley. 
Nolan proposed that they turn out their horses to graze and rest awhile. 



102 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

Gatliu knew that Woods and Wheat were foHowinji a ftnv niih^s in the rear, 
throno-h the hills, and that they were likely to ride right into the valley and 
be discovered by the watchful Nolan. It was therefore the policy of (latlin 
to keep on the move to prevent any such catastrophe. He tried to dissuade 
his companion from losing any time, as they had a long jaunt ahead of them 
and the day was wearing away. 

"No," replied the outlaw, ''I am going to let White Flank have some 
grass. I may have to ride for my life yet, and must take good care of him." 

Gatlin was afraid to insist further, for fear of arousing Nolan's sus- 
picions, so he turned his horse out with White Flank and lay down in the 
grass, keeping his eye on the trail behind them, expecting every moment to 
see Woods and Wheat make their appearance, and praying that they would 
be delayed. Minutes seemed hours to him, but he breathes easier as Nolan 
prepares to mount and resume the journey. 

Just as they start (latlin gives a furtive glance behind and discerns two 
dark objects emerging from the hills. He keeps close alongside of his com- 
})anion, chattering glibly to ])revent Nolan from looking around. Dropjiing 
a little behind he turns his head back and discerns that the two men have 
entered the valley and are now in full view. They have discovered that they 
have been too hasty and have come to a standstill, being too far in the valley 
to retreat. There is not a tree nor a shrub near them behind which they 
might hide. It is a moment of awful suspense to Gatlin, for should Nolan 
chance to turn around and catch a glimpse of the men in the rear, and learn 
that Gatlin had been playing false with him, the conse:]ueuces might be 
serious. But he trusts to luck that before this happens they will pass around 
a projecting spur of a low blutf a hundred yards ahead which will shut oif the 
view to the rear. There is said to be a subtle influence of mind upon mind, 
a sort of wireless telegraphy from bi^in to brain, by the mysterious power of 
which a thought that is uppermost in one person's head is transmitted to 
that of another near or distant. It nuiy have been this unseen psychic 
force which prompted Nolan to do the very thing which Gatlin was praying 
he would not do. At any rate, Nolan turned his head just as they were 
rounding the ])romontory and his eagle eye detected the two horsemen 
silhouetted against the horizon. Turning to Gatlin he said fiercely: 

"Those two devils you had with you are following us." 

"That can't be," replied Gatlin, putting a bold face on the matter; "they 
went back to the ranch; let us hurry on and get to the end of our journey." 

Nolan was not fully assured of the honesty of his traveling mate. He 
rode moodily along for some time without uttering a word, and then, sud- 
denly reining u]> his horse, he said: 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF K.VRLV DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



103 



"See here, (latliii; you cjuri put up any job on nie; these fellows are 
followinii' us and you know it."" 

"1 don't know anything; of the kind, and 1 care less; (he best thiiii: we 
can do is to keej* on out of their way." 

"Not by a d — si^ht; you can't play nie for a suck(M'. Now you ^o your 
wav and I'll <2o mine." 




View of the D. O. Luce Cedar Canon, near New Helena, in Custer County, Neb. 



(Jatlin could do nothing but accjuiesce, for he knew that further expostu- 
lation would be fruitless. He did not dare to rejoin Woods and Wheat as 
long as Nolan was in sight, so he switched off and went over to ^'ictoria 
creek to stay all night with George Carr. As he was riding through the hills 
south of the creek he saw a man driving a small team of mides directly across 
his path, evidently attempting to head him off. The man was standing up 
in his buggy and had a Winchester in his hand. It being almost dark by this 
time, Gatlin did not recognize the man until he came quite close to him, and 
then found himself face to face with Dick James, sheriff of Dawson county, 
who had been following Gatlin for some time, mistaking him foi' Nolan, of 
whom he was iji ]iursuit. 



104 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

The two luiiiji old friends, proceeded to Carr's together and passed the 
niglit there. The next morning they sent a man over to Isaac Merchant's to 
find out if Jack Nohin was there. The messenger returned with the lnfoj*m- 
ation that he was. How to capture the outhiw was the next question. 

"'Gatlin, are von acquainted with the lay of Merchant's buildings and 
the country around there? Is there any w'ay we can get to the house without 
being seen by anybody inside or about the yard?'' 

"Yes," replied Gatlin; "by malcing a circuit we cau get right up to the 
house without being seen." 

They succeeded in accomplishing this, but discovered at the same time 
that Nolan was off on the prairie about three-quarters of a mile holding the 
lariat of Old White Flank, who was munching the buffalo grass with great 
relish. It is needless to say that James did not get his hands on the slippery 
outlaw that day. 

Woods and Wheat had seen the separation of Gatlin and Nolan and had 
expected to be rejoined by the former; but as he failed to put in an appear- 
ance they proceeded on to Van Sickle's, as had been agreed upon. They 
stayed there all night, rode down the Middle Loup as far as the Smith and 
Tee ranch, of which Robert Farley was foreman, where they remained over 
the following night. The next morning they set out for the Finch-Hatton 
ranch. Shortly after their departure Nolan rode up to the Smith and Tee 
ranch, and learned that the boys were on his trail. He remained there all 
day. About sundown Mr. Farley saw Woods and Wheat returning, and 
knowing that Nolan was a desperate man and a dead shot and that Woods 
and Wheat would surely be killed if they attempted to capture him, thought 
it best to tell Nolan, so that he could get out of the way. But Nolan did 
not appear anxious to go. He simply stepped out of the house, rested his 
rifle on top of a post, took deliberate aim at the approaching cowboys, who 
were now wdthin easy range, riding leisurely along, unsuspecting any danger. 
Farley expected every second to hear the report of Nolan's rifle and to see 
one of the boys drop, but he was spared that experience. Jack Nolan was a 
murderer and an outlaw, and a price was set upon his head; he was a fugi- 
tive from avenging justice, but with all his depravity there was a little spark 
of manhood yet alive within his breast which revolted at the idea of taking 
the life of a fellow-being without giving him a chance to defend himself. 
Acting upon this impulse of his better nature, he walked out into the open 
and met the two horsemen with presented gun. Th(\v were completely taken 
by surprise. A\'oods was a brave man, but Nolan had the drop on him and 
he knew^ that he would shoot to kill upon the least provocation. He retreated 
as gracefully as he could under the circumstances and put out for the hills. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



105 



Nolau motioned for Wlicnt to iul\:ni(t'. ••^'oll cnis liavc been followiiii^ 
me, have you?'' 

"Yes," replied >\'lieat, timidly. 

"\Vell, you have found mo; wliat arc you lioinj; to do about it?" 







Sheep Industry Lee's Park, 1887. 

*'Seeiu' as you've got the drop on me, I guess I'll have to leave that to 



vou. 



"Then go and hunt up that other fellow and get out of this country as 
fast as your horses will carry you. and thank your stars that I didn't kill 
both of you when I had a good chance." 

Wheat did not wait for a second invitation, and wliilo ho is iiunting for 
his companion among the hills south of Victoria creek we will return to ilu- 
Smith and Tee ranch and follow the fortunes of Jack Nolan, the outlaw. 

Supper had been eaten, and night, with her sable mantle, had envt'loi)t'd 
the valley of the Middle Loup in darkness, when the tierce barking of the 
dogs startled the innuites of the lancli ]u)use. Nolan rushed out. Winchester 



106 PION'EER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

in hand, to investigate the cause of the disturbance. The night was still and 
calm, and as the hunted man listened intently he heard a great splashing in 
the river near by, intermingled with curses and angry exclamations, indi- 
cating that the stream was being forded by a body of men on horseback. 
Thinking that the Victoria militia were after him, he rushed to the corral, 
mounted White Flank and rode rapidly uj) the river. At the same time Dick 
Milton and his gang rode up to the ranch and inquired w^ho the man was 
that had just galloped away. T'pon being informed that it was Nolan. Milton 
said: ''He is just the nuui I have been looking for." He and Smith dashed 
away after Nolan as fast as their horses could carry them, shouting out for 
him to stop, as they were friends; but the faster they pursued the faster the 
outlaw flew. They had to give up the chase and return to the ranch. Wheat 
and ^^'oods also returned to the ranch at the same time and left for Plum 
Creek the next morning. Nolan disappeared, but turned up some time after 
at the Chapin sheep ranch, neai- the present village of Arnold, which is now 
the property of ex-Slu^'iff ('. T. Holliday. A ])hotograph of the old log ranch 
house appears in another part of this work. One day a stranger rode up on 
a fine bay horse with white flanks. He carried a needle gun and made ar- 
rangements to get his meals for about a week. Mr. Chapin said the man 
" ould come in promptly at meal times, eat with his gun across his lap, then 
mount his horse and ride away, generally in the direction of Powell canon. 
He represented that he was waiting for some friends whom he expected 
along in a short time. Mr. Chapin and his wife were not very favorably im- 
pressed with the actions of their boarder, but as he appeared to be a perfect 
gentleman and paid promptly, they asked no questions. One day while the 
stranger was eating his dinner Mrs. Chapin was reading a paper which con- 
tained an item which greatly interested her, and she arose and passed out 
of the room, beckoning her husband to follow her. This little incident did 
not escape the watchful eye of Jack Nolan, and when he peered out of the 
door he saw Mr. and Mrs. Chapin carefully examining his horse. He stepped 
up to them, remarking: "I see you have discovered who I am and I want to 
give you a little advice. I want my meals and I am willing to pay for them. 
If you keep still, it will be all right; but if you try to make me trouble it will 
be the worse for you. I want you to understand that I will not be taken 
alive. He then told them the whole story of his ])nrsuit by the cowboys and 
Ihe sherifl", laughing heartily at the way in which he had discomfited them. 
As the ranchnu'u were at that time more or less at the mercy of such char- 
acters, it was considered good i)olicy to treat them well and not get mixed 
u]» in their (juarrels; therefore Mr. Chapin and his good wife are not to be 
censured if Wwy kei>t llu' secret of the identity of their guest safely locked 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IX NEBRASKA. 



107 



witliiii ihcir own hieasts. Dick INIilloii frequently stopped at tlie Thapin 
ranch and at one time presented Mr. (Miapin with a j^ray liorse that was 
somewhat ridden down, but wliich ]»i-o\-ed to be an excellent animal. He 
Icept it about two years and sold it for a j»<)od price. This transaction came 
very near <iettin<> him into trouble, as it turned out that tln^ hoi'se had been 




I 



t!^sf*?;t\.^i',sr'^f 



*' K 



I. C. Cram, Loup County, Neb. 



stolen and Chapin was threatened with arrest as an accomplice of Milton. 
Xolan next appeared at the North and Cody ranch on the Dismal river, near 
its mouth, remained there about thriM- days, and then went up into the Nio- 
brara coutry. 

In the meantinu" Sheritf Dick James had returned to Plum Creek and 
sent his deputy, ^^alentine, to continue the hunt for Nolan. Valentine, it is 
said, told everybody he met that he was a fireat detective; that it was throu<;h 
his skill that the Olives had been put behind the bars, and that he intended 
to take Nolan back with him. One day while ridinji up on the Runninji 
^^'ater he met a ranchman to whom he explained his business, embellishing 
the nai'rative with a very glowing description of \'alentine's prowess as a 
thief catchei*. ^'alentine was not yet out of sight when Jack Nolan rode uj) 
to the ranchman and impiired who the man was that had just left him. The 
ranchman related the conveisation, after which Nolan put spurs to Old White 
Flank and swooped down on the unsus])ecting detective. He held him up, 
took his horse and weapons and turned him loose in the middle of the desert, 
horseless and uarmed. Nolan, however, allowed the detective to retain his 
saddle, which he recognized as the pro])eity of (latch Hughey. a boy who 



108 PIONEEK HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



carried "tlnuk"" to the id'isonei-s in tlie l*lum ('reck jail. It was hinted that 
Huij^hey h;ul been instrnniental in effecting the escape of Nohm from the jail, 
but nothing of the kind was ever proven. Gateh, it appears, was quite a vo- 
calist, and the night that Nolan escaped had brought the prisoner his supper, 
and returned to the jail office. Nolan called out after him: "Gatch, can't .you 
give us a song?"' Gatch, who was a good-natured fellow, who would rather 
sing than work, launched out into a roaring ditty that lasted for some time. 
Nolan had previously sawed several bars of his cell nearly in two, and taking 
advantage of the noise that (latch was making with his song he wrenched 
the bars off, slipped through and made his escape. At the conclusion of his 
vocal performance Gatch expected to hear some ap])lause from Nolan, but a 
dead silence ensuing he made an examination and found the cell empty. As 
a mark of appreciation for the service rendered to him in his hour of need, 
Nolan returned to the detective Gatch's saddle which had been borrowed by 
the thief catcher when he set out on his hunt for the outlaw\ 

Nolan finally fell in with Milton, but they did not get along very well 
together. Milton recognized White Flank, traded Nolan out of him, and sent 
Avord to Olive where he could find him. Glive at once sent a man after the 
horse, which was in due time restored to his rightful owner. Some time after 
this Nolan robbed the Bone Creek postoffice and fled to Minnesota. Later he 
was captured, but what became of him your historian is unable to say, as he 
has not been able to trace further the career of one of the most daring out- 
laws that ever infested central Nebraska. 



Jxii\i\2 irotlliant ®aijliiL 



By F. M. Hallowell. 



Judge William Gaslin was born in Kennebec county, Maine, July 29. 1S27. 
His i)arents and ancestors were among the hardy pioneers of the forests, 
whose mental and pliysical powers were fully developed by exposure, fru- 
gality and the hardest kind of manual labor. His grand parents and parents 
lived to be very old. most of them to an age between ninety and one hundred. 
The judge, during his boyhood, lived with his parents on a sterile, rocky farm, 
on which he labored when not working out by the month for small wages 
cutting lumber, ])art of the time taking trips at sea, after he was old enough 
to do so, at first serving as cook. When a chihl he attended a countiy school. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



109 



but only in the winters after he got large enough to work on the farm, the 
school house being about a mile distant; he had a love for study and was 
soon a good scholar. After he was able to earn money to pay his way, he 
attended an academy and fitted for and entered Bowdoin college in 1852. 
from which he graduated in 185(), having paid his own way by teaching school 
and earning monev at anything he could do. Shortly after uraduating he 



^'7 






( 


■'mm 


1^ 


^ 




■■-4 i 


^^^Kr^j^ 




3 




HON. WM. GASLIN, Attorney. 



F. M. HALLOWELL. 



entered the office of Judge Samuel Titcomb in Augusta and commenced the 
study of law. Being without money he taught in the graded schools of 
Augusta, continuing the study of law during the spare time he had, hiring a 
house and moving his mother and young brother and sister into the city, the 
younger children attending the school he taught. After thus teaching nearly 
two years he had saved (mough to enable him to continue his law studies, and 
so left school. After being admitted to practice law he opened an office in 
Augusta, the capital of the state, where there were fine lawyers, aiid tooK' 
an active part in polities with his neighbors, among whom were the immortal 
James G. Blaine and Lot M. Morrill, and frequently coming in contact with 
Hannibal Hamlin and other eminent men of the state. 

From money earned in teaching school and the little he could save from 
his salary as city clerk and other official positions, he fitted up an office in 
his native city with such books as he was able to get and commenced his 
law practice, walking four miles night and morning to and from his father's 
farm and so continued for two or three years. 



110 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTS 

It was very little business he had until a pnor old widow, being robbed 
of her farm and home, came to him. Some of the best lawyers in the city told 
Gaslin in a friendly way that a great wrong and outrage was being done, but 
as the parties had a deed there was no chance for the old lady. Gaslin got 
the case put over nearly all summer while he was examining and copying 
the records, when away back he found a void levy on which the title adverse 
to the widow rested, and so won the case settling title in her and beat a 
collateral suit for jjossession against the old lady on the ground that the 
courts of the state held that an action of trespass on real estate could not 
be maintained where it had continued for more than six years. All he ever 
got from the old lady, who was ninety years old, was |2.50. which a long 
time after she insisted on paying, though he asked her nothing. After win- 
ning these cases he did not want for business, whicli was owing as much 
to his indomitable energy as to his legal lore. 

In 1865 his library, office and all its contents were consumed by a very 
disastrous fire which destroyed most of the business part of the city, and 
he left for the West, landing in Omaha over the Chicago & Northwestern 
railroad from Michigan, that being the only road across Iowa at that time; 
crossed the Missouri on the ferry March 20. 1S68. Omaha was then a small, 
straggling place, most of the hotels and business places being on lower Far- 
nam and Douglas streets. 

Though the building of the Union Pacific railroad had passed that hell 
on earth, Julesburg, and got well into the mountains, and many of the worst 
characters had moved on in the procession of desperadoes and cut-throats, 
Omaha was still infested with a fearful gang; seventy-five men were killed 
rhe first year Gaslin was there, for which very few were even arrested or 
known. After remaining in Omaha until the spring of 1871, in June or the 
first of July, with a party of two or three others, with a span of hardy horses 
and wagon and camping outfit, struck for southwestern Nebraska, the B. & 
M. R. R. being then completed as far as Crete. They struck across the 
country to the Republican valley in Nuckols county and then up the valley to 
Ciilorado. The country was then little settled and west of Webster county 
no settlements of any consequence — two log buildings at Red Cloud and 
nothing worth mentioning beyond until the following year, (ireat herds of 
bult'alo, bands of wolves, elk, deer and antelope and flocks of wild turkeys 
and grouse greeted the eye on all sides. On their return the party crossed 
the monotonous prairie on the divide between the Republican and Platte 
rivers, all totally uninhabited, and visited the northwesterly part of the 
state, which west of Hall county was very little settled. H(^ returned to 
Omaha in August, when he took a homestead in Harlan county, filing his 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. Ill 



papers at the land (itticc in Beatrice; he spent the fearful winter of 1S71-2 
on his homestead, conuuntin^ the same next spring- and takinf>- a pre-emption 
on which he made the reipiisite improvements witli his own hands. 

In June, 1ST2, he went to Lowell, where the I'niled States land oflflce was 
opened in Jnly, and opened an ofiice and commenced the practice of law, to 
which place the 1>. & M. R. R. reached that fall and was its terminus for quite 
a while. Lowell was the terminus of the Texas cattle trail, vast herds reach- 
ing- there in late s])rins' or early summer, where tli«^ cattle were marketed and 
shipped east. The town was full of cowboys and cattlemen; saloons and gam- 
bling places were run wide open seven days and nights each week; little 
regard was paid to law; money was plenty and all kinds of business booming; 
thousands of settlers poured into the country, bringing their families, and 
took up claims and settling thereon, this being the outfitting place to south- 
western Nebraska and for a long distance into Kansas. In a short time after 
the land ofiQce was opened seven men were shot and not one was punished for 
the crimes, and but one was tried, and he ac(piitted. About 1874 the land 
office was removed to lUoomington, in Franklin county, and the railroad ex- 
tended to Kearney, and like Carthage, Babylon, Ninevah and Sandusky, 
Lowell fell. 

In 1875 a constitutional convention was called. The convention divided 
the state into six judicial distiicts and created an independent supreme court. 
^^'hen the time approached for nomination of district judges, though not a 
candidate, Gaslin was urged to go before the Republican convention at Plum 
Creek, now Lexington, as a candidate, which he reluctantly consented to do. 
The campaign was lively and spirited, but Judge Caslin was elected. When 
he ran for the second term, after civilizing and clearing the county of des- 
peradoes and establishing law and order for four years, he had five votes 
more than the Republican and Democratic vote combined. \Mieu he was first 
elected his district embraced Webster, Adams, Buttalo, Sherman, Custer, the 
unorganized county of Sioux, extending north to the Dakota line, attached to 
Cheyenne county for judicial purposes, and all the state west of these counties, 
comprising at least one-half of the territory of the state. Adams, Kearney and 
Buffalo counties, reached by the B. & M. R. R., and Buffalo, Dawson, Lincoln, 
Keith and Cheyenne counties, traversed by the L^nion Pacific, were the only 
counties crossed by railroads when the judge first entered upon his judicial 
duties in January, 1870, there being thirteen counties besides the unorganized 
territory whose courts were held a long way from the railroad. At the end 
of his first term in 187J» he was nominated by the Republicans and indorsed 
by the Democrats, and was therefore elected with no opposition whatever. 
In the fall of 1888 h(^ was again nominated by all parties and re-elected again 



112 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

without opposition, and a^ain in 1S87 he was trinm]»hantly rv-elected. When 
he ent(M'ed npou the dischar^je of his official duties as judge liis district was 
infested with mnrdeiers. thieves, desperadoes and cnt-thioats of all grades 
and kind, and especially in Cheyenne, Lincoln and Keainey counties, and in 
fact, thoniih the settlers on the public domain were tirst-class ])e()ple, there 
were scattered all over the district the worst kind of criminals, and in 
almost all the counties there were the worst kind of murders and crimes com- 
mitted, and on the cattle ranges, among the employes, were a large number 
of murderers and outlaws under assumed names who had tied from the Routh 
and extreme southwest part of the United States and Indian territory. The 
district was full of horse and cattle thieves. Sidney, in Cheyenne county, 
then the outfitting and shipping point on the Union I'acific to and from the 
Black Hills, and where there was a miltary post, was a very tough place, 
infested by many of the very worst characters, and everything was run wide 
open without restraint. 

Ogallala, while it was the terminus of the southern cattle trail, was an- 
other place where the worst kind of criminals congregated, and North Platte 
was well represented by a similar class. Judge Caslin's experience in bis 
younger days with toughs and criminals, coming in contact with them as he 
went to sea and in knocking around the world, and the way he had seen 
justice dealt out in Canada and Great Britain, caused him to profit by his 
observations and to put a stop to crime by dealing out speedy, sure and 
severe punishment to confirmed and abandoned criminals, contending that 
the way to eradicate crime was to severely punish it, and he had the courage 
and nerve to fearlessly execute the law without fear or favor of any one. 
Jieing a man in his prime, and of iron will, untiring industry and application 
to the discharge of his judicial duties, and possessed of a strong constitution 
and physique of steel and perfectly fearless, running his courts from early 
morn until late at night, disposing of the business without any frills or 
delays and doing it as fast as it could be well done and imposing severe sen- 
tences on those who deserved them, he soon rid the country of the worst of the 
criminals and inaugurated a reign of law and order, making life and property 
safe. It was indeed fortunate that such a man was elected at that time. 
The people of the state, and especially those living in the old Fifth district 
are much indebted to him and owe him a debt of gratitude for what he did 
for them. His ch an-cut, uns()i>histicated. blunt, crisp way of running his 
court and dispatching business made him many enemies among the lawyers, 
none of whom had any pull on him, as, indeed, no one else. The first three 
years he was judge he presided over twenty-six murder trials, during the first 
six years forty-six. and during the sixteen years he was judge he presided 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 113 

over sixty-eight and other cases of felony would have to be numbered by 
the hundred — in fact, during his term as judge, the warden of the peniten- 
tiary regarded him as one of his most reliable patrons. 

Though Judge Gaslin's district embraced about one-half of the state, and 
he traveled by wagon to reach two-thirds of the counties of the district, and 
had more criminal business than there was in any two districts in the state, 
yet he disposed of it all by holding court less than one-third of the time. 

Judge Gaslin, hale and hearty, is now residing at Kearney, where he has 
been quietly practicing law since he left the bench in 1892, spending the 
winter of that year, just prior to settling in Kearney, traveling in Old Mexico. 



^rff Iratrnf Df Bmn ^Blmta. 



0. K. Mathews. 



The writer of this sketch was born in Virginia in 1843. At the close of 
the Kebellion the state w^as so heavily laden with debt that every kind of 
business was at a standstill, and there were few^ openings. In the fall of 1873 
1 was at Eichmond attending a horticultural and pomological fair, where I 
was greatly struck by a grand display of the products of Nebraska. I there 
made up my mind that the great fertile west was the place for me, and from 
that time until I set my foot on this side of the Missouri I had a bad case of 
western fever. 

In the spring of 1874 I helped to organize a party of eleven to go to Ne- 
braska. The party consisted of C. R. Mathews, Amos Broughan, Wat Sifford, 
H. B. Andrews, George Snyder and wife, William King, W. P. ToUey, Henry 
Lemon, J. H. Withers and a man by the name of Circle, whose first name I 
have forgotten. We arrived at Omaha on the 4th day of April, 1874. From 
Omaha we proceeded to Kearney, and thence to Loup City. At this place we 
hired an outfit for the purpose of exploring the unorganized territory in the 
Middle Loup country, fording that river at a point near where the village of 
Wescott now stands. There were no roads of any kind, and we pushed on 
over hills and across valleys, through thickets of plum brush, not knowing 
what moment we would meet with some obstacle that would compel us to 
retrace onr steps. When we reached Lillian creek it commenced snowing 
furiously. The banks of the creek were high and steep and the channel was 



114 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



full of running water. Not being able to find any better crossing place, we 
went to work and shaved the bank down, carried our load over a little at a 
time, and succeeded in landing our outfit safely on the opposite side of the 
creek. The storm increased to a regular blizzard and we concluded to camp 
there for the night. The wagon box was taken off and braced up on its side 
to afford us some protection from the fury of the blast that now howled over 




Ex-Couuty Judge C. R. Matthews. 



the prairie driving the blinding snow into our faces with stifling force. An- 
drews climbed a large cottonwood tree, cut off some dead limbs, and soon 
had a blazing fire around which we lay wrapped up in our blankets, taking 
turns keeping up the fire through the night. The following morning was clear 
and bright and after a hasty breakfast we proceeded up the Middle Loup val- 
ley through big drifts of snow that made our journey both slow and tire- 
some. Near the mouth of Victoria creek we met some trappers who described 
the beauties of Victoria valley, with pure, cold springs gushing from its sides 
here and there. We followed up the creek until we came out on the hill just 
east of the present site of New Helena. We descended to the creek, but found 
the banks so steep that we had to bring into play a couple of long cedar poles 
that had evidently been used by Indians or trappers. We laid these across 
the narrow channel, pushed our wagon over on this frail bridge and resumed 
our journey in a northwesterly direction about two miles and a half until we 
struck what is known in Custer county as the Big Cedar canons. The one 
which we entered was a dense forest of cedar and other trees, with an under- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 115 

growth SO thick that it could hardly be penetrated. Pushing our way along 
this canon we emerged into a small clearing in the center of which stood an 
Indian wigwam. A cold chill ran over the party, but we soon discovered that 
the wigwam was empty, and took possession, spending a very comfortable 
night therein. After looking the country over a day or two we returned to 
Loup City, procured the necessary equipments for starting improvements on 
the claims we had selected, and were soon located in our new homes in the 
wilderness. This little settlement consisted of H. B. Andrews, Edward Nelson 
and the writer. Our nearest neighbors were at Loup City, a little village 
of about 100 inhabitants, where we did our trading. It was sixty miles from 
us. In the month of May, the same year, I met, at Loup City, George E. Carr 
and O. A. Smith, who had just arrived from Pennsylvania, and whom I 
induced to locate near us. The next settler was Ezra A. Caswell. Thomas 
Loughran took a claim further down the creek near the Middle Loup river. 
About the first of June Jacob Ross, with a large family of grown-up daughters, 
made quite a welcome addition to our little community. About this time the 
grasshoppers came along and devoured everything in the way of crops all 
over the state, a calamity which bore particularly hard on us, as our first 
crop in the county was completelj' destroyed before it was ready to harvest. 

In the spring of 1875 Nathaniel H. Drj^den and family, J. R. Forsythe 
and J. P. Bell came into the county. 

In September, 1874, I had the honor of being a delegate to the representa- 
tive convention which met at Plum Creek. This representative district at 
that time embraced seventeen counties and was entitled to one member. M. 
V. Moudy of Lowell, Kearney county, received the nomination and was 
elected. 

In 1875 we had abundant crops and immigration commenced to flow 
rapidly into the unorganized territory. 

During the winter of 1874-5 I circulated a petition asking the authorities 
at Washington to establish a mail route from Kearney via Loup City, Arcadia 
and Douglass Grove, to New Helena, and we received the first mail over the 
route on April 15, 1875. I was appointed postmaster at this place, my com- 
mission bearing the date February 9, 1875. Aaron Crouch, the mail carrier, 
received the mail at this office every Saturday. 

In May, 1876, there was a general uprising of the Sioux Indians, who 
resented the intrusion of parties who were at that time pushing through to 
the Black Hills. Most of the settlers in this county packed up their goods 
and hastened to Loup City. We rallied a few of the settlers and built a fort 
of cedar logs. I applied to Governor Garber for fourteen stands of arms 



iWTz^. 




AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 117 

and 2,000 rounds of cartridges, which we received, and most of the families 
that had flown came back. 

Isaac Merchant, George Carr, Jacob Ross, W. O. Boley, Samuel Wagner 
and his son, William, and the writer remained in the settlement while the 
other male members were removing the women and children to a place of 
safety. Our fears proved to be groundless, however. No Indians came to 
molest us. although a hunting party of Sioux camped for some time a few 
miles north of us. Most of the settlers came back that fall, a few only re- 
maining away until the following spring. 

This was formerly known as Kountz county, being so named after the 
banking firm of Kountz Brothers of Omaha. 

In the fall of 1877 the Olive brothers came into the county with 15,000 
head of cattle and established a ranch near the mouth of the Dismal river. 
Their cattle spread all over the western half of Custer county, causing untold 
trouble to the settlers. The cattlemen employed a lot of rough men from 
Texas, who had no respect for the rights of anybody. The writer has spent 
many a long night in keeping cattle out of his cornfield. One incident will 
serve to show the annoyance to which we were subjected by these lawless 
characters. 

I had been contemplating a trip to Douglass Grrove late in November, 
and had gathered ten or twelve bushels of corn to leave at the house to feed 
my stock while I was gone. It was in sacks in a wagon and I intended to 
start the next morning. That evening Bob Olive, alias Stevens, rode up with 
about a dozen of his cowboys and twenty-five or thirty ponies. He walked 
into the house without going through the formality of knocking at the door, 
and remarked that it was "awful d — d cold." He kindly told me that if I 
would give him enough corn to feed his herd of ponies that he would not 
turn them out to help themselves. I told him that I hoped he would not 
turn the horses out, as they would tear down my stacks and that he could 
have all the corn he wanted if he would go out in the field and husk it. 

"What is the matter with this corn in the wagon?" he inquired. 

''That is corn I brought up for my hogs while I am gone to Douglass 
Grove," I explained. 

He made no further remark, but deliberately emptied the corn out on the 
ground, where it was soon eaten up by the horses. The outfit concluded to 
stay with me all night without asking my permission, helped themselves to 
my coffee and anything else they could find, wrapped themselves up in their 
blankets and went to sleep. Olive was taken sick during the night with 
cholera morbus and routed his men out to see if anything for his relief could 
be found in the settlement. There was no doctor within eighty miles, so 



118 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

they went to Mr. Boley's and came back with a bottle of camphor. Mrs. 
Ross also let them have a bottle of camphor, and Mrs. Forsyth, for a change, 
sent another bottle of camphor. Mrs. Loughran and Mrs. Merchant, having 
no other kind of medicine in their houses, also sent a bottle of camphor 
apiece. As the men came in one after the other with the camphor. Bob got 
as mad as a hornet and smashed the bottles on a saddle that hung in a 
corner of the room. During the same night our neighbor, Smith, had the 
honor of entertaining two or three of the cowboys. They piled into the bed 
alongside of him, with their clothes on, and enjoyed a good night's rest. When 
I got up the next morning I found one of my stacks of grain torn down and 
five or six horses on top of it. 

At one time Judge Holbrook of Kearney county, and the Sutton brothers 
of Kearney, Buffalo county, went up on the Dismal on a hunting excursion. 
They did not return, and the next spring their bodies were found pierced 
with bullets. Robbery did not appear to have been the motive for the mur- 
der, as nothing had been taken from their camp and their money and valua- 
bles were found on their persons. Two of the bodies were found lying near 
the camp and the other some distance away, and it is not known to this 
day who committed the horrible crime. 

In the year 1878 the little settlement on Victoria creek raised good crops 
and as a better class of cattle men began to establish ranches in the country 
the settlers got good prices for all the grain and produce they had to 
sell. Henry Smith and Ernest Tee located a ranch on the Middle Loup river 
about fifteen miles from New Helena, and the Finch-Hatton brothers one up 
near the mouth of the Dismal in the fall of 1878. About this time the settlers 
in the northern part of the county became dissatisfied on account of the 
great distance to a polling place, which practically disfranchised them. The 
Legislature was asked to enact into law a bill which I drafted and which 
passed. Following is the bill: 

''Each board of county commissioners shall divide the county into con- 
venient precincts, and as occasion requires subdivide precincts or erect new 
precincts, alter precinct lines and whenever any portion of territory containing 
in the aggregate not less than one township of land nor more than four 
townships lying contiguous shall contain not less than fifteen voters, it shall 
be the duty of the board of county commissioners, upon receipt of a petition 
signed by a majority of such voters, to constitute such territory a new voting 
precinct." 

In the spring and summer of 1879 the crops gave promise of an abundant 
harvest and the settlers looked forward to a good return for their labor. 
They were celebrating the Fourth of July in the most approved style, eating, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 119 

drinkinj:: and making merry, when a cloud no bigger than a man's hand was 
observed in the northwest, which grew with alarming rapidity until it over- 
spread the whole heavens, and out of it came one of the most destructive 
hail storms this county ever experienced. The crops were literally beaten 
into the earth. Not a bushel of grain was harvested in Victoria valley that 
year. A few turnips sown after the hail storm were the only crop produced 
in that section. The log school house where the settlers were gathered to 
celebrate the Fourth, had three windows on the north side. The glass was 
broken into fragments by the hail, after which George Carr attempted the 
impossible feat of keeping out the storm by covering the three windows at 
one time with a blackboard long enough onl}- to cover two. Men, women 
and children crowded into the building, terror stricken, some crying, some 
praying, and, I am sorry to record it, a few swearing. The hail streak was 
about four miles wide and passed down Clear creek, cleaning out the crops 
completely in its course. The settlers had to haul their feed and seed for 
the next year from Grand Island and Central City, 120 and 130 miles distant. 
In 1880 we had good crops, but the hardships and privations of these pioneer 
days have been lived through, and while some have fallen by the wayside 
and still others gone to ''the land beyond the river," many of us remain to 
enjoy the fruits of our early trials, proud of our noble county and its splendid 
citizenship^ and confident of its continued growth and development. 



(Explotfe iif Mtk MUlon. 



The word "outlaw" sounds harsh to the average individual, and the 
thought at once presents itself to the mind that the person to whom it is 
applied must be a desperate character, and one having no right to life or 
liberty. This is altogether an erroneous idea. An outlaw is a man who in 
some way has violated the law of our land, and a very trifling thing may put 
one outside the pale of the law. The history of the individual whose name 
heads this sketch proves that the force of circumstances, rather than any 
inherent bad disposition, often causes men to lead lives which with other 
surroundings would be very much different. And while in his time Milton 
was accounted one of the most depraved outlaws that infested the plains, 
he has since reformed and rendered important service to the officers of 
the law. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



121 



Dick Milton, which is not his true name, but which will suffice for this 
narrative, was born in Texas and came to Nebraska in 1875 over the trail 
of the immense herds of cattle as a cowboy. In 1876, during the Black Hills 
excitement, he worked for a big freighting outfit, Pratt & Ferris. He was 
night herder. It was his duty to take the mules or oxen belonging to the 




Powell Canon on the left of picture. A boy is standing on tlie 
stump of the tree where the hunter's team was found. 



outfit at night to some convenient feeding ground near the trail, herd them 
during the night and have them ready for a start in the morning. He slept 
in the wagons during the day as they traveled along. Roving bands of 
Indians infested the plains at this early day and they resented the encroach- 
ment of tlie white man, following wagon trains and watching for a chance 
to pillage and murder. This made the duty of night herder extremely danger- 
ous, and it took a man of iron nerve to serve in that capacity. The wages 
were high. Milton performed his work faithfully and to the entire satis- 
faction of his employers. It is on one of the return trips of this freighting 
outfit, at Sidney, Nebraska, that the career of this man, as an outlaw, begins. 
And, as far as we know, what transpired at this time and place laid the 
foundation for his many wild and daring deeds of outlawry. 

At that time Sidney was an important station on the overland trail. It 
was an outfitting station for Black Hills freighters, a favorite resort for gam- 
blers, desperadoes and the shifting and heterogeneous population of the 
border. It was also a military post. Among the many saloons and gambling 
houses that ran wide open in this lively frontier city, one of the most popular 



122 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

was Joe Lane's dance hall, known in early days as the Saratoga house. On 
the night upon which the Pratt & Ferris freighting outfit struck the town, 
as mentioned above, this resort was filled to overflowing with a mixed crowd 
of freighters, mule skinners and others who had just come in for loads of 
freight for the Black Hills, watching for opportunities to flirt with the fem- 
inine portion of the crowd. This diversion was a great change from the 
monotony of their lives, traveling for days and weeks at a snail's pace over 
the long, dusty trail, sleeping in wagons at night with a Winchester for a 
pillow and expecting to be awakened at any moment by the blood-curdling 
war whoop of a band of savages. On this occasion they were determined to 
throw care to the winds for one night and have a good time. The place was 
full of gamblers, cowboys and bad men galore, seemingly from all parts of 
the earth. Some were gathered in groups in front of the bar drinking, others 
were singing snatches of ribald songs, while still others were watching the 
dancers who were whirling around in the giddy waltz. It was soldiers' night, 
and no one was allowed to participate in the dance unless he wore the uniform 
of blue. The hours glided by and the crowd became more mellow and the 
dance wilder. White-aproned waiters were kept busy rushing to and fro with 
drinks that were called for with increasing frequency by soldiers who were 
anxious to show their gallantry to their fair companions, even to the extent 
of blowing in their whole month's pay in a single night. The crowd around 
the bar grew more boisterous as the hours passed by, and drunken men 
wrangled and boasted of deeds that would bring the blush of shame to even 
their cheeks in their soberer moments. Milton and a friend were standing 
uear a soldier and his fair companion. The soldier wore the straps of a ser- 
geant. As the dance stopped for a moment the girl turned to Milton and, 
shaking her blonde curls saucily, taunted him about being out of luck in not 
wearing a uniform that he might join in the dance. The sergeant was greatly 
displeased with this familiarity upon the part of his companion with a com- 
mon herder of mules and oxen, and at the next pause in the dance he tried 
to force a fight with the young man, who tried to avoid any trouble. We have 
it from an eye witness that what followed was entirely the fault of the hot- 
headed sergeant, who forced the fight which ended his career. In a moment 
everything was confusion and uproar in the place and the two men were 
locked in a fierce struggle. The music ceased and a stampede was made for 
that part of the room in which the fight was going on. It was a mob of 
drunken and liquor-crazed men and women. Milton was getting the best of 
his antagonist when the other soldiers in the room took a hand in the fight 
and kicked and beat the herder unmercifully. The sharp report of a revolver 
was heard in the melee and the sergeant fell back into the arms of one of 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 123 

liis friends. The lights were suddenly extinguished, leaving the great hall 
in total darkness and pandemonium indescribable. The trampling and fight- 
ing of the mob to reach the open air can be better imagined than described, 
and we leave the reader to imagine the scene that followed. The poor herder 
escaped in the darkness and confusion. A price was set upon his head. 
Friends offered to furnish money to defend him if he would stand a trial. 
He avoided his pursuers for a time, was finally captured and escaped to 
the wilds of northern Nebraska, which was at that time, to a great extent, 
unorganized territory, where bad men roamed at will knowing no law but 
the six-shooter and the bowie knife. Whenever he tried to work the blood- 
hounds of the law would get on his track and he was compelled to move on. 
At last he gathered a band of daring outlaws around him and it is said did 
a wholesale business in running off whole herds of ponies belonging to the 
Indians, and becoming a terror to law-abiding citizens. Milton fell in with 
a young man about twenty-five years of age, five feet ten inches tall, a fine 
looking fellow with dark hair and eyes, the last man on earth that one would 
have taken for an outlaw. This man and Milton took a liking to each other 
and naturally fell in as pals. For convenience we will call the young man 
Ed Smith. He and Milton seemed to be natural leaders and planned many 
daring raids which were carried out by the band. The Sioux Indians had 
thousands of ponies in the southwestern part of Dakota and the northwestern 
part of Nebraska, and this band would go up into that country, four or five 
strong, find a bunch of ponies ranging in the hills, wait until night and then 
drive seventy-five or a hundred of them south, traveling night and day until 
they were beyond danger of pursuit by the Indians. They would strike the 
North Platte river west of the town of North Platte, find a certain well 
known ranchman, sell the bunch, turn them across the river between the two 
forks, then come back and drift down the South Loup river. They soon 
became very well known all over the central portion of the state. Milton and 
Smith were both men of good address, pleasant sort of fellows, and assumed 
great credit to themselves because they never stole horses except from the 
Indians. In the degenerate days of the present, the code of morals by which 
these men regulated their conduct would appear a trifle lame, but in the 
wild days of which we are writing the aborigine was considered a common 
enemy Avho had no rights which white men were bound to respect or even 
consider. It is said that at one time Milton and Smith, with three men, made 
a dash on a bunch of horses and succeeded in getting about 140 of them. 
The Indians had lost so many ponies that they had become cautious and 
night-herded them, making it more difficult for the thieves to get the start 
of them. There was a short time, however, between the watches in the even- 







T*5S^:^, 



126 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Ed Smith and Dick Milton watching an opportunity to run off a band of Sioux ponies. 



ing when the ponies were not guarded. Taking advantage of tliis, ]\Iilton 
and his men made a bold danh, knowing that they were talving desperate 
chances. They crowded the herd at full speed all night, not knowing how 
soon they would have to turn and fight the pursuing owners of the horses. 
They headed for the Platte river, as usiuil, keeping their booty on the move 
night and day until they crossed the Middle Loup river, keeping a sharp 
lookout all the time for the savages. Not having seen anything of them, 
after crossing the Middle Loup they were lulled into security, and as men 
and beasts were alike worn out by their rapid and ceaseless flight, they 
concluded to stop in a small valley for a little needed rest and refreshment, 
and to let the ponies feed. Tnrning all their saddle horses loose with the herd 
of ponies, with the exception of one which they put on a lariat, they lay 
down to take a nap. They little dreamed that savage eyes were watching 
them from a high bluff a short distance in the rear. When they awoke they 
found themselves afoot and alone, many miles from any habitation, with very 
little provision and no horses, except the one that had been picketed near 
their camp. A man was put in the saddle and sent in hot pursuit of the 
horses, which they supposed had gone off of their own accord, but when he 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 127 

came in sight of them he was thunderstruck to find that they were being 
driven back by a score of Sioux warriors. It is a mystery to this day why 
the Indians did not kill and scalp the men while they slept. Perhaps they had 
heard the old saw: ''It is best to let sleeping dogs alone." When the man 
returned to the camp with the newis of this alarming discovery a consultation 
was held, and one of their number was dispatched for provisions and a new 
mount of horses. 

A short time after this adventure Milton and Smith, with two or three 
others, were reconnoitering a large Sioux camp on the Niobrara river. Just 
as they had reached a position southwest of the camp a band of Sioux came 
dashing upon them from the southwest with a war whoop. They were on a 
ridge. To go west or south meant death at the hands of the savages, who 
were closing in on them from both of these points. To go east would take 
them into the Indain camp, which was now all confusion, with the sav- 
ages running to and fro, catching their ponies and securing weapons, having 
been aroused hx the war whoop of their companions. All the show for escape 
was to the north towards the river, which they proceeded to make for as fast 
as their horses could carry them, the savages only a little behind them in full 
pursuit, rending the morning air with their blood-curdling yells. In a few 
minutes the flying white men were on the bank of the stream, which they 
found to their dismay to be straight up over ten feet above the water. There 
was no time to look for a better crossing. The Indians, knowing the situation 
and feeling certain that they had the enemy at bay, redoubled their yells and 
rushed forward like a pack of demons. There was but one alternative open 
to the hapless Milton and his companions, and that was a leap for life into 
the boiling flood below. The leap was made, horses and riders disappearing 
under the icy cold waters of the river, but soon emerging and reaching a 
small island in the middle of the stream, covered with a dense growth of 
underbrush, into which they pulled themselves and horses and prepared to 
defend themselves in case they were followed. But the Sioux did not follow, 
and contented themselves by firing a few shots into the thicket which did no 
damage. 

A funny anecdote is told of Milton when visiting a cattle ranch at one 
time. A cowboy was having an immensely good time by making an old man 
dance. Every time the old man would stop the cowboy would shoot at his 
feet and make him go at it again, until he was almost exhausted. Milton 
looked on a few minutes and thought he would take a hand in the game. He 
motioned the old man to one side and ordered the cow puncher to give an 
exhibition of his skill as a terpsichorean artist. The cowboy thought Milton 
was joking at first, and hesitated, but a shot from an ugly looking gun plough- 



128 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

ing up the dirt about an inch from his big toe set his feet to going, and he 
had an opportunity to quit only when he dropped down in a heap from sheer 
exhaustion. When he recovered his breath and his senses he was advised 
to take some one of his own size and age the next time he wanted any fun 
of that sort. 

Upon another occasion Milton was riding along the Niobrara river when 
he discovered another horseman riding along leisurely ahead of him, going 
the same way. He spurred up his horse and was soon alongside the stranger, 
who was a gawky young country bumpkin, about eighteen years of age, with 
a big revolver stuck in his belt, and wearing high boots with red tops. The 
following conversation took place: 

"Hello, young man; where are you bound?" 

"Well, I'm bound west just now." 

^'I'm going the same way and I'll accompany you. Are you a stranger in 
these parts?" 

"Yes, sir. I have been to see my brother up in Holt county, and there is 
a d — d old horse thief named Dick Milton who is scaring everybody out of 
their wits. I wish I could get a look at him. He couldn't scare me." 

Milton looked the green looking fellow over and concluded, to use a 
western phrase, that he was "windy." The}' jogged along chatting sociably 
for awhile, the young fellow taking occasion every few minutes to express 
his opinion of the horse thief. Milton finally became tired of this sort of 
thing, and drew his revolver out and said: 

"Young man, you are talking to Dick Milton," at the same time reaching 
over and taking the revolver out of the young fellow's belt. "Now, young 
man, you're entirely too fresh for this country, and I'll have to ask you to turn 
that outfit over to me and hoof it if you are going any farther." 

The boy took the matter very coolly and replied: 

"Well, you have the drop on me. You are perfectly welcome to the out- 
fit, but it's pretty tough on a fellow to be turned loose a-foot ten miles from 
anywhere." 

"Never mind, young man; it will teach you a lesson not to be so funny 
the next time you meet a stranger; so now you had better get off that horse 
and take to your hoofs." 

The boy paid no attention to this invitation, but continued to argue the 
matter until it was finally agreed that he might ride until they came to a 
sheep camp a few miles ahead, where he was to turn his horse over to his com- 
panion. They rode along, talking about this and that, and every little while 
the boy would scratch his leg furiously, make a wry face and complain that 
the fleas were eating him up, which he said he had gotten at the ranch where 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 129 

he had slept last night. Milton paid no attention to the actions of the boy 
in his fight with the fleas. When but a short distance from the sheep ranch 
where the boy was to deliver np his horse, Milton, who had been looking the 
other way, turned towards the boy and found himself looking down the barrel 
of an ugly looking revolver which the young man had fished out of his boot 
during one of his excursions after fleas. 

"Now, sir, you turn over them shootin' irons and you hoof it." 

Milton saw by the determined look in the boy's face that he had caught 
a bad man, and thinking discretion the better part of valor, surrendered as 
gracefully as possible under the circumstances, while the kid coolly divested 
him of his arms and also the revolver which he had taken so adroitly from 
the boy but a few moments before. 

Then, riding backwards on his horse, rode off, leading Milton's horse and 
eovering Milton with his own Winchester, till, reaching a small hill, he placed 
his fingers to his nose and disappeared. Milton was never able to locate him, 
but we have our suspicions that it was the same green looking youth held up 
by the vigilants at Oarnes' bridge, and who found they had caught a tartar. 
(See Lynching of Kid Wade.) 

In the fall and winter of 1878 Smith and Milton made the South Loup 
their headquarters, Olive's ranch being a favorite resort. The ranchmen did 
not care to make enemies of these men, as their stock were scattered from 
ten to twenty miles in every direction, and were at the mercy of such char- 
acters unless they took the Judge Lynch method of disposing of them. For 
this reason they were allowed to stay about the ranches by common con- 
sent. Milton and Smith had some amusing experiences in dodging the sher- 
iffs, Pat O'Brien of Custer count}"-, and Dick James of Dawson county. Both 
of these ofiicers would have liked to capture the outlaws for the sake of the 
reward that was offered. Pat O'Brien called on several ranchmen one night 
to help capture them. Among the men present were Al Wise, Frank Cozad, 
Milo Young and Anton Abel. The men were suppoised to be at the Olive 
ranch, which was surrounded and watched the long night through-- only to 
find in the morning that the birds had flown and were discovered on a high 
bluff near by with a field glass marking the besiegers for future reckoning. 
That day the two daring men called on every man who had been in the party 
and gave each to understand that in case the offense was repeated that they 
might expect trouble. They played a game of hide aud seek with the sheriff 
for several days. O'Brien would ride up to Al Wise and inquire if he had 
seen Milton to-day. Upon receiving an answer in the negative he would 
ride away to interview the next neighbor. About as soon as he was out of 
sight Milton would ride up and inquire of Al if he had seen anything of Pat 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 131 

O'Brien that day. Upon being informed that the gentleman had just that 
moment disappeared over the hill, he would get off his horse, help Al with 
whatever work he was doing for a while, and then ride off in the wake of 
the sheriff. One day he was at the Olive ranch, when who should walk in 
but Pat O'Brien. Quick as lightning Milton was on his feet with a 44 Colt's 
almost in the face of the astonished sheriff, who, for an instant, thought his 
time had come, as he looked down the muzzle of the huge weapon that almost 
tickled his nose. 

Milton coolly said: ''Are you looking for me, Pat?" 

"N — No, sir," gasped Pat. 

With an oath the other replies: "Well, Pat, it's an awful good thing 
that you're not." 

With this he made his way to the door, covering the sheriff with his 
revolver as he backed out, and disappeared. O'Brien remained in the house 
for a short time chatting, and when he went out found that Milton had taken 
his horse and left him to go a-foot. 

One night Milton and Smith were stopping at the Cottonwood ranch, near 
where Callaway now stands, when the mail carrier drove up and handed John 
Dyer a letter. Smith stepped up and said: "I wouldn't mind seeing that 
letter." 

Dyer tried to put him off by telling him it was from his sister. Smith 
coolly pulled his gun, took the letter, read it and passed it over to Milton. 

The letter read as foUowis: 

Plum Creek, Neb., 187—. 
Mr. Dyer: 

Dear Sir — ^Dick James is coming out to arrest M. and S. You will give 
him all the assistance you can. Yours truly, 

PHIL DUFRAND. 

The writer of the letter was foreman of the Cottonwood ranch, and at this 
time was in the Plum Creek jail as an accomplice of the Olive gang, and Dyer 
had been left to take care of the ranch during the enforced absence of the 
regular foreman. 

Smith turned to Dyer and said: "I guess I'll have to trouble you for a 
fresh horse this morning, as mine is rather jaded." 

Dufrand had a fine driving team by the name of Frank and Fox and 
Smith saddled Fox and the two outlaws rode away. It is needless to say 
that Dick James and his poisse made a waterhaul. As soon as James had 
gone back to Plum Creek the two men returned and Smith left the horse he 
had borrowed in the morning and took his own. 



132 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

The last time that Milton and Smith were in Custer county was in 1879. 
They were stopping at the Olive ranch, and Kid Wade aud Black Bill were 
with them. When next heard of they were at the Water Hole ranch, four- 
teen miles north of Sidney. They had gone from the Olive ranch To the CJot- 
tonwood ranch and took Frank and Fox with them. Jim Gray, a cowboy, 
who was sleeping in the barn, put up a stiff fight, but the outlaws returned his 
shots with interest w^henever the flash of his revolver showed where Gray 
was. They got away with the horses just to pay off Phil Dufrand for trying 
to help capture them. From the Cottonwood they proceeded, first making a 
call at the Brighton ranch and Frank Cozad's, While at the Water Hole 
ranch the officers got wind of their whereabouts, and they prevailed upon a 
gambler and desperado, named McDonald, who was acquainted with Milton, 
to go out and persuade the two men to come to Sidney. Milton was too 
wary to be caught in that way, but Smith (being a stranger) took the chances 
and accompanied the gambler back, riding Dufrand's horse. Fox. McDonald 
persuaded Smith not to go heavily armed, as it would arouse suspicion. As 
they entered Sidney they rode through a freighter's camp, when the officers 
sprang out and shouted: "Throw up your hands!" At the same moment 
McDonald jerked away Smith's revolver and pinned his arms to his side. 
Smith threw himself from his horse, wrenched himself loose from McDonald's 
grasp, and would have gotten away had an officer not filled him with a load of 
buckshot which ended his career on the spot. Milton heard of this and made 
his escape to a more congenial clime. A short time after this McDonald mur- 
dered a liveryman in cold blood at Sidney, which so incensed the citizens that 
they took him out to a telegraph pole, placed a ladder against it, fixed a rope 
with a hanging noose and gave him the choice of hanging himself or having it 
done by them. The miserable wretch, seeing that there was no escape for 
him, climbed the ladder, adjusted the rope about his neck, said ''good day, gen- 
tlemen," and jumped off into eternity. 

Detectives soon got on Milton's trail and determined to capture him by 
fair means or foul. They sent him word that they had a pardon for him, 
signed by the governor, which in order to become effective would have to be 
signed by Milton, with a promise to lead a better life in the future. Of course 
this was a ruse to get hold of Milton, but it appeans that he took it in good 
faith. A meeting was had and Milton agreed to sign the document and 
reform. Hazen and Llewellyn, the tw'o detectives, and Kid Wade, accompa- 
nied by Milton, started to a house to get pen and ink to sign the paper. There 
was a dense thicket on the road which they had to pass by on their way to 
the house and the detectives had previously placed a man in this thicket to 
kill Milton as he passed by, as it did not appear to be a part of their plan to 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 138 

try to take him alive. They rode toward the thicket, Llewellyn ahead, Wade 
next, Milton third and Hazen behind. As they got opposite the timber the 
man conceak^d attempted to carry out his part of the program, but his gun 
missed fire, and quick as a flash of lightning Milton saw that he was in a trap. 
He turned and shot at Hazen, who had dropped from his horse on the oppo- 
site side and who shot Milton very badly through the hip, causing him to fall 
from his horse which galloped away carrying his Winchester with him, which 
no doubt saved the detective's life. With an oath Milton chased Hazen around 
his horse, saying: "You have given me my death wound and I'll give you 
yours," shooting him three times and leaving him for dead. The man in the 
thicket did not stop to see who came out ahead in the fight, but got away 
from the vicinity as fast as he could. As he played the part of a murderer and 
a coward we will not chronicle his name. As soon as the shooting commenced 
Kid Wade drew his revolver and commenced firing at Llewellyn, and it is said 
that an exciting running fight followed, both men firing at each other while 
their horses were on the gallop. The Kid's revolver became emptied first and 
1)6 turned out of the road to seek safety, while Llewellyn never drew rein on 
his horse until he reached Fort Hartsuff twenty-five miles distant, where he 
got together a squad of soldiers headed by Happy Jack, a United States scout. 
They found Hazen still alive. Happy Jack soon located Milton, who surren- 
dered. He was tried and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, but shortened 
his term a year and a half by good behavior. When he got out of prison he 
declared he was tired of the kind of life he had been leading and promised to 
settle down as a law-abiding citizen. He kept his promise and was upon sev- 
eral occasions instrumental in assisting to bring criminals to punishment. 

Milton is at this time a business man in a neighboring state, is marshal 
of the town in which he lives and is doing all he can to atone for the exploits 
in which he took a prominent part in the cowboy days of central Nebraska. 



€1)2 QLoU^U. 



The coyote Avhose photograph, taken from life, appears here, is one of 
the natural productions of Custer county, where, on account of his chicken- 
stealing proclivities, he has been voted a pest and a nuisance. 

Perhaps we can not more fittingly conclude our description of the coyote 
than by reproducing the following extracts from the pen of George B. Mair of 



134 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




A Howling Success. 



the Callaway Courier, which we find in an old file of that paper and which 
seems to fit the animal pictured above to a dot: 

''The coyote is quite a large animal, although some of them are not so 
much so. They do most of their rustling nights, when honest folks are sup- 
posed to be in bed, and attend to their sleeping in the daytime. Once in a 
while one stays out until after daylight. On such occasions he may be seen 
making a sneak across the prairie in the direction of his hole, with his tail be- 
tween his hind legs, looking about to see if he has been discovered, and trying 
to invent some story to tell his wife when he gets home. 

"What he lacks in beauty is more than made up in ugliness. The knowl- 
edge that he is no beauty has undoubtedly soured his originally sunny disposi- 
tion and caused him to shun society and look out of the corners of his eyes. 

"The crowning glory of the coyote is his magnificent voice. We have 
heard the roar of the fierce Numidian lion in his den at Forepaugh's circus 
and the melodious yahoo of the jackass, but we never realized the weird and 
sublime power of music until we attended a moonlight rehearsal given by a 
pack of coyotes the first night we strack Custer county. 

"But civilization and poisoned meat are getting in their deadly work 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 135 



among him. Some day the last gray-headed patriarch will sit on the brow of 
3'on beetling cliff, with his form silhouetted against the rising moon, and he 
will be seen no more. 

"And a weatherbeaten pelt hanging onto the end of an old corn crib will 
be the only remaining relic of a vanished race." 



^mxxl) fnr fI;B ^ilnBr Mi^tial 



(By S. D. Butcher.) 



''Good morning, colonel; I'm glad you came in, as you may be able to 
help me solve a mystery, as you are an old resident of Custer county." 

"At your service, sir," replied the colonel good-naturedly. "What can 1 
do for you?" 

"Well, colonel, the fact is that while Mr. Westbrook was digging a water 
main near the Globe hotel in Broken Bow a few days ago he dug up from six 
feet underground a rusty looking object which was circular in form and about 
twice the size of a silver dollar. Upon cleaning off the rust with which it was 
incrusted he found that it was a silver medal. Mr. Westbrook has already 
been offered fifty dollars for it." 

"Why, that is surely remarkable. Can any of the characters be discerned 
on the medal?" 

"Yes, indeed; they are remarkably plain and well-preserved to be seventy- 
five years old. The medal weighs about two ounces and bears on one side 
this inscription: 'James Adams, President U.S., 1825,' with a picture of the 
president; on the other side are two clasped hands, one of which has a coat 
sleeve, showing civilization, while the other is bare, indicating that of the 
savage, while above the hands is crossed the pipe of peace and the tomahawk 
with the words: 'Peace and Friendship.' There is a hole bored in the medal 
at the top which shows to my mind that it has been worn around the neck of 
some person — ^presumably a dusky warrior of the plains — and that it had been 
given by the President as a token of some treaty of peace. But what puzzles 
me is to account for its being found buried six feet under the ground i^ Broken 
Bow. What is your theory, colonel?" 

The colonel's eyes sparkled with their old-time fire as he answered : "Well, 
Mr. Historian, for once you may consider yourself a lucky man, as I believe I 
can solve the mystery." 



136 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Sioux Warrior on Guard. 



THE COLONEL'S BTORY. 

While camped on Wood river during the '60s, liiintiug bulfalo and stalk- 
ing elk, I became acquainted with a very genial and intelligent Irishman by 
the name of Mike O'Raffert}-. Mike was a grand specimen of the hardy fron- 
tiersman. He stood fully six feet two in his stocking feet, long dark locks 
flowing down over his shoulders, large, honest blue eyes that always sparkled 
with fun and good humor, a happy-go-lucky sort of fellow that always took the 
world in a general sort of way. He was withal a great gossip and possessed 
of a very inciuisitive temperament which often led him into trouble, out of 
which, however, he always managed to extricate himself in such an innocent 
and smooth way that one could hardly tell whether the mistake was not pre- 
meditated. 

It was late in the fall and I had been having splendid success for the 
short time I had been at this place. So far I had seen no hostile Indians, but 
ugly rumors had reached my ears of a large band of Sioux warriors having 
been seen some twenty-five or thirty miles further north, near Muddy creek, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



137 



between the South and MidcUe Lonp rivers. Keport said they had on their 
war paint and that tliev seenud to he lieadin*; for the north side of the Muddy 
valley to a point where from some liigh bhili's columns of smoke could be seen 



^' M. M 



•p)- 





\ 



Uncle Swaim and Aunt Sarah on their Fish Pond. Aunt Sarah has just caught a flue fisli. Uncle Swaim 
seems not to be so successful, maybe on account of the kind of bait he uses, which can be seen in his end of 
the boat. 

ascendino-. Now, if this were true, every precaution must be taken not to be 
discovered, for the Sioux in peace and the Sioux in war are two entirely differ- 
ent propositions. Since the day before I had built no fire and was anxiously 
awaiting the return of Mike who had gone north about a week before. I knew 
he was cautious as he was brave, and would take care of himself unless he 
were ambushed. Al. Burger, alias Dick Seymour, or Bloodj' Dick, as he was 
sometimes called, and his brother, stayed with me all night and confirmed 
the rumor. These young fellows were buffalo hunters and trappers and were 
on their way to North Platte with furs. (I met Bloody Dick a few days ago 
and he tells me that he has married and has been living on the Middle Loup 
since 1882.) 

Our camp was in a deep ravine or dry gorge covered completely over with 
a dense growth of timber or underbrush, and amply hidden from sight of any 



138 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



prowling savages that might pass up or down the valley, unless they stumbled 
upon us by accident. The day wore along and Mike failed to put in an appear- 
ance; the sun sunk into the western horizon in a halo of glory and the night 
came on apace. The little screech owl quavered out his mournful and sleepy 
notes as if he were cold. They had hardly died away in the night air before 
a sharp, plaintive wail was heard, like a human being in distress, which 
gradually rose higher and higher until it became a shriek which then grew 
fainter and fainter until it seemed a mile aw^ay. Then suddenly the stillness 
was broken by its mate answering from an adjoining tree. These bobcats had 
scented blood and were figuring on making a meal from the saddles of a fine 
black-tailed deer which I had killed the day before and hung up temptingly 
on a limb just out of their reach. The darkness was so intense that it could 
almost be felt, and I did not retire until long after midnight. As I sat in 
the solitude of my surroundings every facultj^ of hearing was at constant 
strain to catch the first footfalls of old High-Knocker, Mike's old sorrel horse, 
of whom the owner was as proud as a girl of her first beau. And justly so, 
for he was a fine specimen of horse flesh, a thoroughbred racer, and could 
easily distance any pony the Indians possessed, and had often carried Mike 
out of danger when he was hard pressed by the red devils. 

The moon arose clear about 10 o'clock, but still Mike did not appear, and 
no sound could be heard but the sharp and angry bark of a pack of coyotes 
as they fought over the carcass of a horse which had belonged to a freighting 
outfit pushing through to the Black Hills. Finally becoming tired of watching 
and waiting I retired to my dugout, or cache, in the bank, rolled myself up 
in my blanket and passed the remainder of the night in fitful slumber, filled 
with horrid dreams wherein was mixed the little screech owl with his great 
eyes, and the bobcat glaring at me from his tree with balls of fire, while Mike 
had been killed by the bloody savages and I was on old High-Knocker flying 
for my life with the Indians in full pursuit. I was awakened by a slight 
crackling noise near me and I started to my feet grasping my trusty rifle. I 
saw Mike standing in the door of our rude little hut with a look of grave 
importance on his face. I glanced out past him and discerned the sun shin- 
ing brightly and old High-Knocker standing in the bottom of the gorge with 
drooping head and foam-flecked sides, showing plainly that he had been ridden 
long and hard. I pulled myself together and said: ''Good morning, Mike; 
you look like you had seen the ghost of your grandmother; speak up, man; 
what's the news?" 

"Och, sor, news is it? Sure an' there's news enough. The rid divils is all 
stured up for sure this toime, an' it'is not the loikes of me that's goin' to be 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 139 

sthoppin' round here much longer an' have me top knot raised be some thafe 
wid a tommy hawk." 

"Well, Mike, tell me about it," 

"Well, ye see, sor, I had rached the Muddy valley, and found the shmall 
strame they call a creek and picked me out a campin' place near a big hill 
where I could see — " 

'^But, Mike, what about the Indians?" 

"Aisj', now, colonel; I'm gettin' to that. I had found baiver signs and 
was procadin' to — " 

"Yes, Mike, but tell me about what you saw." 

"Beg your pardon, colonel. As I was sayin', I looked up the valley and 
thin I looked down the valley, an' I says to mesilf says I, 'here's the foinest 
valley in Nebraska for farmin', an' ' — " 

"For heaven's sake, man, don't be >so garrulous, but tell me about the 
Indians if you saw any." 

"Saw any, did ye say? Now wouldn't that kill yez. Do you suppose I'd 
have ridden ould High-Knocker loike that just for the fun of the thing? As 
I was sayin', I looked acrass the valley an' I saw a sight that made me hair 
push me hat aff me head, so I did. I saw three big pillars of shmoke arisin' 
out of the bluffs on the other side. Sez I to mesilf, sez i, that ould spalpeen, 
Crow^ Dog, is up\to some of his devilmint. An' as it was near sundown I sez 
to mesilf, sez I, I'll see phwat the ould haythen is up to. I gave High-Knocker 
some grain I had in a sack and ate some baiver tail and could potaties, not 
wishing to make a fire. I waited till darkness surrounded the horizon, know- 
ing that the moon didn't rise till — " 

"For goodness sake, Mike, come to the point and tell us what you know." 

"Well, sor, that is just phwat I am procadin' to do as fast as I can." 

"Mike, if you ever want to ask a girl to marry you, and you are as long 
in getting to the popping point as you are in telling what you saw on this 
trip, the girl would probably go to sleep and miss the half of what you said 
and never know how near she came to becoming Mrs. O'Raffertj'." 

"I see ye're pokin' fun at me now, colonel. As I was sayin', there would 
be no moon till tin o'clock, so, tightening the cinches on ould High-Knocker, 
lookin' to see that me revolvers was handy, an' takin' me directions be the 
north star, cautiously — " 

"Look here, Mike, you are drawing on your imagination for the north 
star, for it was so dark last night that it couldn't be seen ten feet." 

"That's thrue, sor, but I located the north star before sundown — in fact, 
«arly in avenin' — and I thin followed the direction. Foinally I shmelled 
shmoke and bv follvin' the scint I came to the fut of the bluffs, hobbled ould 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 141 

High-Knocker, thin cautiously worked me way toward the shmoke which 
came down from the other side av the bluffs. Whin I rached the top and 
looked over it chilled the blood in me yeins, so it did. But I sez to mesilf, 
Bez I, 'Mike O'Rafferty, sure ye are no coward, an' this is not the first tight 
place ye'ye been in wid the rid spalpeens, an' ye'ye come here to find out 
phwat that ould Crow Dog, is up to, and yondher he sits be that big camp fire, 
wid 500 haythens seated in a circle if there's fifty. He is holdin' a council of 
some kind an' ye must hear phwat he says.' So maneuyerin' to take advan- 
tage of the inimy's position, as our captain used to say, I shliped along in 
the darkness to within a few fate of Crow Dog, and where it would haye been 
rery awkward to haye explained me business to the ould haythen without 
lyin' about it if a sthray dog had shmelled me out. Whin Crow Dog rose to 
his fate and waved his hand, I could hear the batin' of me own heart, and 
the war paint shmeared on the faces of the rid diyils flashed in the fire till 
they looked like painted fiends." 

The colonel stopped, lit his pipe and continued: ''Here is the substance 
of Mike's story, when put in English: 

Crow Dog spoke as follows: "My brothers, the heart of Crow Dog is 
heavy to-night, and he feels that the greatness of the Sioux nation is fast 
passing away. For many moons we have been badly beaten by our mortal 
enemies, the Pawnees. Crow Dog sees his warriors fall like blades of grass 
before the prairie fire, and our foes are fast gaining possesion of our hunting 
ground, where our fathers for ages trapped the beaver along the beautiful 
streams and chased the elk, the deer and the buffalo across the grassy plains. 
But all of this has changed and Crow Dog has found a cause for the change. 
He has called his warriors together with the talking smoke. You have obeyed 
and it is well. A very great evil has befallen us. You know our great paleface 
father at Washington gave our father's father. Eagle Claws, a silver medal 
with the picture of the great father on one side. On the other side was the 
hand of the pale face father clasping the hand of Eagle Claws. Above this 
the pipe of peace and the towahawk, and the words. Peace and Friendship. 
This medal was always worn bj' Eagle Claws, suspended by a thong of deer- 
skin around his neck. While he wore it he was successful in the chase and 
conquered all his foes. When he went to the happy hunting grounds he gave 
this token from the great father at Washington to his son, my father, Rolling 
Thunder, who was always victorious in battle, and who, when he went to join 
the Great Spirit, gave it to his son. Crow Dog, saying: 'Keep this, Crow Dog, 
and wear it next your heart, and you shall have many scalps of the Pawnees 
to wear at your belt. But beware the day you lose this token.' You have 
heard that many moons ago, over there to the southwest, on the banks of 



142 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Custer County's Best Crop. 



the Muddy water, where stood the lodges of our nation, a bloody battle was 
fought w^here Crow Dog met Stalking Elk, his Pawnee foe, in a death struggle. 
Crow Dog came out victorious, but he lost the silver medal. His spirit is 
broken. He is like a sick squaw. He has no spirit for the chase or for battles 
unless the medal can be found. Now, O, my warriors. Crow Dog has spoken, 
and to-morrow at the rising of the sun we will search the ground where once 
stood our lodges and the great battle field for the silver medal, and I will give 
fifty ponies and my daughter, Laughing Brook, for a wife, to the warrior that 
finds the token. Go to your tents, O, my brothers, and to-morrow we will make 
diligent search. Then sharpen your scalping knives and prepare for the war- 
path, as our Pawnee foes are camped a day's ride to the southeast killing our 
game. Their village is strongly guarded, but we will use cunning to outwit 
them. We will drive a herd of buffalo out on the valley below their village, 
and while their young men are chasing our game we will crawl up through the 
grass and scalp and kill their old men and squaws." 

''So, sor, afther hearin' this spache by the ould haythen I says to mesilf, 
sez I, Mike O'Kafferty, its high toime ye was sthrikin' camp and making 
thracks for home. So here Oi am." 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



143 



jftu j©Iti ^Bfiler's ^{nry. 



In writing- these reminiscences I hesitate, thinking that perhaps they 
might as well remain unwritten, but upon reflection I have concluded that to 
remain silent would not be doing justice to posterity, to whom, perhaps, every 
circumstance that occurred in the early settlement of Custer countv may be 





T. J. BUTCHER, Gates, Neb. 



MRS. T. J. BUTCHER. 



valuable. This pioneer history is made up largely of the personal experiences 
of those who blazed the way into the wilderness and endured the trials and 
hardships incident to a pioneer settlement. Being one of these pioneers, 
although less prominent than many others who have recounted their expe- 
riences in this work, I feel that it is my duty to contribute my mite to the 
general store of facts of which this work is composed. 

The writer was born at Burton, Wehetzel county, West Virginia, January 
24, 1856, from which place my parents removed to LaSalle county, Illinois, in 
the spring of 1860, where my father, T. J. Butcher, accepted a position with the 
Illinois Central railway to pump water, a position he held for almost twenty- 
one years, resigning to immigrate to Nebraska. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 145 

I learned the photograph business in 1874, but was taking a vacation and 
was engaged in traveling for a firm at Clyde, Ohio. I received a letter from 
my father stating that he had sold out and was going to move to Custer county^ 
Nebraslva. I was very much surprised, and, while in a good position, I was 
beginning to tire of traveling about from place to place and had already 
thought seriously of seeking my fortune in the great west. 

March 9, 1880, saw two covered wagons slowly wending their way west- 
ward from Lostant, Illinois, with 700 long miles ahead of them. These prairie 
schooners contained T. J. Butcher, G. W. Butcher, his second son, J. R. Wabel, 
his son in-law, and the writer. We would travel as long as daylight lasted, 
then prepare supper and roll up in our blankets to get what sleep we could be- 
fore daylight the next morning. I was unanimously elected cook (as I was 
popularly supposed to be good for nothing else), the ague which still clung to 
me not exempting me from work. My father was always an early riser, and 
every morning about half past 3 or 4 o'clock would caU me up to get breakfast, 
with the mercury sometimes near zero, and my feelings often from ten to 
twenty below. Here was roughing it with a vengeance for a tenderfoot who 
had not done a hard day's work for twelve years, and who had never slept 
for one night out of doors before undertaking this trip. By the time we 
reached the Mississippi river my ague had disappeared and when we got as 
far as Nebraska I had an appetite that made a crust of dry bread taste like 
a plum pudding. 

We arrived at T. W. Dean's place, two and one-half miles west of West 
Union, in the Middle Loup valley, Custer county, Nebraska, just seven weeks 
from the time we started. I considered this the finest country I had seen since 
leaving the East, for a poor man seeking a home. My father located a claim in 
section 28, township 20, range 20, and put down a well, determined not to 
remain here if good water could not be obtained. At the depth of twenty feet 
he procured a bountiful supply of clear, soft water. From this on all was 
bustle and activity to secure claims and return to the land office at Grand 
Island, a distance of ninety miles, to file on them. The trip was made in about 
six days without any serious mishap. My sister met us at Grand Island and 
I was released from further household cares and duties. 

We commenced to settle up the county by digging a hole in the ground 
and drawing our wagon cover over it, which served as a habitation until our 
first sod house was completed. The house was 21 by 31 feet in size and it 
was here that I took my first lessons in sod laying, which resulted princi- 
pally in wearing out my hands and my patience. I soon came to the conclu- 
sion that any man that would leave the luxuries of a boarding house, where 
they had hash every day, and a salary of |125 a month to lay Nebraska sod 



146 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



for 75 cents a day, even if there was a ''gintleman" on the top of the wall to 
do the work, was a fool, and I remained only six weeks. About eight days 
before the house was completed our provisions gave out. There was nothing 
to eat except some shorts that we had brought with us to feed the horses. 
This would not have been so bad had the kerosene can not leaked into the 
shorts and gave them a flavor that was anything but appetising, but we sub- 
sisted on it until we were ready to return to Illinois after the balance of the 
family. 

We left on May 19th, my father and myself, for Illinois, and my brother- 
in-law for Grand Island to get supplies to last until my father returned with 




Looking east on Lake Hazel on the farm of S. D. Butcher, the most 
beautiful set of lakes within 100 miles. 



ray mother and my youngest brother, Abner, my brother George being left on 
the claim to break sod and plant sod corn. When about twenty-five miles this 
side of Grand Island, on our way to Illinois, we stopped for the night and 
picketed one of our horses — a blind one — and turned the other two* loose to 
graze. About daybreak the next morning we made the discovery that our 
horses were gone. Wabel and I followed their tracks through the wet grass, 
supposing they had gone but a short distance. The sun soon came up and 
dried the grass, but the country being sandy we easily followed their tracks, 
which were directly towards Grand Island. About noon we struck the house 
of a settler, where we got breakfast, and were informed that some horses 
had passed about daybreak. We followed on after them and about the middle 
of the afternoon saw a man who had tried to catch them, but failed. We 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 147 



hired him to take us on in pnrsnit of the runaways, which we finally found tied 
behind a farmer's wagon just leaving Grand Island. The farmer had caught 
and advertised them, and was taking them to his place ten miles in the 
country. He appeared to be as much chagrined at having to give them up 
as we were pleased to get them back. Some time after we had been gone 
my father hitched up the blind horse, put on a stay chain, and came to Grand 
Island, getting there soon after we did. While w^alking along beside the 
horse in the opposite track he lagged behind and got his foot caught in the 
wagon wheel, which crushed some of the bones and crippled him for many 
weeks. 

I will now pass over several months which have no connection with this 
history and take the reader back to Grand Island at the time of my return 
from the East to take up my residence on my Custer county claim. The six 
months' time I had to make good my claim w^as up except three days, and 
I had some difficulty in getting a horse to enable me to get to my place in 
time. But I finally succeeded in procuring an old cow pony that the crowds 
had a mortgage on, with three or four gum boils on his back and sundry 
other peculiarities to match. Talk about Phil Sheridan's ride! Why, he had 
only twenty miles to make on a fiery black charger that needed only a slack 
on the rein to make him fiy like the wind, but I had to cover ninety-nine miles 
on an old crow-bait and build a house w-ithin seventy-two hours. I stood it 
pretty well for twenty miles (the distance that Sheridan rode), w^hen the vio- 
lent shaking up began to tell on me. Every step he made was likely to kill me. 
He rode easily enough if I kept on the lope, but whenever he came to a 
draw^ or a low place in the road he came down on both legs as if they had been 
made of two iron bars, while no persuasion of whip or spur could induce him 
to more than creep until the opposite side of the depression had been reached. 
And these depressions occurred with painful regularity every fifty or 100 
yards. I wished more than once that the claim was more than 2,000 miles 
away, so that it would be no use in my trying to get there, but as all things 
have an end, so had my ride. I covered the ninety-nine miles in a day and 
three-quarters, arriving on my claim nearer dead than alive, but to my sur- 
prise the old horse seemed good for another trip. 

The next morning my father and two brothers, with the assistance of 
an ox team and a scraper, helped me to construct a dugout, and my brother 
Abner and myself slept in it that night. On the following morning we saw 
some fresh deer tracks within a hundred feet of my dugout, and the same 
day a man was sent by a kind neighbor (who had been watching it) to jump 
my claim, but he found the owner with a house up aud living on it. 




O J3 



'2 o 






^5 

■S .5 

Em '3 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA, 



149 




I bad to ride 99 miles on that old crow-bait iu 72 bours, build me a bouse 
and be living on my claim. 

FAREWELL TO MY HOMESTEAD SHANTY. 



Farewell to my homestead slianty; 

I have my final proof; 
The cattle will hook down the walls. 

And someone will steal off the roof. 

Farewell to my sheet iron stove 

That stands in the corner all cold; 

The good things I've baked in the oven 
In language can never be told. 

Farewell to my cracker-box cupboard, 

With a gunny sack for a door; 
Farewell to my store of good things 

That I never shall want any more. 

Farewell to my little pine bedstead, 
'Tis on thee I slumbered and slept; 
Farewell to the dreams that I dreamt, 
While the fleas all over me crept. 

Farewell to my down bolstered chair, 

With the bottom sagg'd down to the ground 

Farewell to the socks, ishirts and breeches 
That fill it again to the round. 



150 PIONEEE HISTOKY OP CUSTER COUNTY 



Farewell to my nice little table, 

Where under I've oft put my feet. 
Then chose from the bounty of good things 

The substantials of life for to eat. 

Farewell to my sour dough pancakes 

That none but myself could endure; 
If they did not taste good to a stranger 

They were sure the dyspepsia to cure. 

Farewell to my tea and my crackers; 

Farewell to my water and soap; 
Farewell to my sorghum and buckwheat; 

Farewell to lallacadope. 

I remained in Nebraska this year just two weeks, relinquished my claim 
back to the government, and went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I would not 
have remained and kept batch for five years for the whole of Custer county. 
I give the young man who has gone through such an ordeal great credit for his 
endurance. But I had just seen enough of the wild west to unfit me for living 
contentedly in the East, and after passing the winter of 1881 and the spring 
of 1882 in the medical college at Minneapolis, Minnesota, I was married May 
16, 1882, to Mrs. Lillie M. Hamilton, formerly Miss Lillie M. Barber, and began 
to lay plans to return to Nebraska. The result was that on October 20th 
of the same year we arrived at my father's place, where we remained all 
winter, during which time I taught school in the Predmore district and 
earned enough money to build a photograph gallery 18 by 28 feet, made as 
follows: We placed six-inch fencing boards up edgewise every two feet, then 
lathed them both sides, piled clay up around a post, caught a couple of steers, 
walked them round and round on the clay, adding water until the mud was 
mixed to the proper constituency, after which we filled in between the laths, 
making a wall six inches thick. The building was roofed with sheeting. 
By this time our money was all gone, and we yet had six windows and a 
skylight and side light to fill. My wife proposed that we fill them with 
cotton cloth. We moved in on June 20, 1883, and our cloth windows served 
admirably for some time. I borrowed some money to get my photographic 
apparatus together and was soon prepared to take tintypes. The next move 
was to manufacture a background from an old wagon cover that had several 
holes gnawed in it by the rats. The back ground was painted and patched, but 
the paint did not cover up the patches and they showed up plainly in the 
finished pictures. But necessity is the mother of invention, and we soon de- 
vised a simple way of getting around this little difficulty. Finding a couple 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 161 

of coiled wire bed springs, we fastened them to the ceiling, hung the back- 
ground on them, set them in motion, which blurred the x)atches so that they 
were not visible in the picture. Such an outfit! — dirt floor, cloth windows, 
an old wagon cover for a background — it made us sick at heart. We often 
wondered what some of our stylish friends back east would think if they 
should peep in and see us. They would probably have thought we were 
crazy — and I sometimes thought myself that I might have been a little hasty 
in my choice of a home, but there I was, with a wife and a baby boy (he is 
eighteen years old now, and three inches taller than his father) depending upon 
me for support. I had petitioned for a postoffice and mail commenced running 
regularly between Jefferson and West Union, a distance of nine miles, and 
the records show that we canceled 68 cents worth of stamps the first quarter. 
I considered myself on the high road to success, besides having the honor of 
being a federal officeholder, and had to stay at home Sundays to give the 
people their mail for fear they would petition to have the office moved and 
thus deprive me of the salary attached to it. I worked on the farm for my 
father for 50 to 75 cents a day, and whenever anyone wanted a tintype T 
dropped my hoe and made it, and went back to the field again. In the fall 
I built a sod addition to our gallery. I hauled the sod one mile, always having 
to give two days of my own work for one day of a man and team. Until our 
sod house was finished, whenever there came a storm, we had to vacate the 
galleiy, as everything would be flooded, there being nothing bat sheeting on 
the roof. We have often gotten up at midnight, wrapped a quilt around the 
baby and started for my father's place with the rain coming down in torrents 
and the darkness so intense that we could see nothing except for the flashes of 
lightning. Then came the trials and vexations of the good wife. When the 
storm was over everything in the house was soaked and had to be taken out 
in the sunshine to dry before they could be used again. But the kind of 
weather which played her out the most was a long, drizzling rain, which kept 
everything wet and uncomfortable for days at a time, when we had to make a 
tent over the bed to keep the baby dry. At such times I could not work in the 
field and of course I had to take care of the little fellow while my wife pre- 
pared our frugal meals. I remember a favorite song I had to sing to keep 
him quiet on a rainy day. It was as follows: ''Say, old man; why don't you 
put a roof on your house? When it rains I can't, and when the sun shines I 
don't need it." Probably about here the chorus is interrupted by my wife 
remarking: "Don't be a fool." It was hard, but wluit could I do? It did not 
rain all the time, and when the sun came out and seemed to smile on us the 
flowers bloomed with more beauty and all nature seemed to rejoice. Not 
being of a melancholy -disposition I had to rejoice also. I took a timber claim 





S. D. BUTCHER. 



MRS. S. D. BUTCHER. 





MISS MADGE H. BUTCHER. 



LYNN J. BUTCHER. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 163 

and had some breaking done. Some time after this the town of Walworth 
was started. I joined the boomers of the new town, which was like the mush- 
rooms that come up in the night. I built a sod house 12 by 14 feet and moved 
my wife and two babies to the new home. By this time a little girl had come 
to bless us and to add joy to our hearts. A. W. Darling and myself soon had 
a frame gallery np on borrowed capital, he furnishing the security and me the 
experience, and it proved a dear experience to me. I had lived in our new 
house just six weeks when the buildings of Walworth began to be moved 
away, some to West Union, two and one-half miles east, and to Sargent, six 
miles down the river. We sold the gallery and followed the building we had 
once hoped to own, and rented it for five years. The country was new and 
people were not overburdened with money, but from this time on we had 
nothing to complain of for a number of years. My friends advised me to go 
on my farm and go to work. This was an insinuation that rather nettled me. 
It seemed to suggest that they thought I was afraid to work. This is a 
mistake. On the contrary I could lie down and go to sleep alongside of it 
at any time. But I knew probably as well as they did that there would be 
work enough for me to do, as I would have to build another sod house and 
I had just completed one in West Union. I was so unsettled that my chickens 
almost knew, when they saw me coming, that they were expected to lie down 
on their backs and have their feet tied. 

In the spring of 1886 I conceived the scheme of getting up a history of 
Custer county. From the time I thought of the plan for seven days and 
nights it drove sleep from my eyes. I laid out plans and covered sheet after 
sheet of paper, only to tear them up and consign them to the waste basket. 
At last, Eureka! Eureka! I had found it. I was so elated that I had lost all 
desire for rest and had to take morphine to make me sleep. I told my scheme 
to every one I met. I talked it constantly. I have talked it nearly fifteen 
years, and if God spares me I intend to keep talking it until Custer county is 
full of books. And as hundreds are already sold, I think I see in the future a 
partial realization of my dreams. After fifteen years of such a checkered 
career as few men have experienced, I have still been able to wrench success 
from defeat. I laid my plans before my father. I wished to secure his help, 
as I had no horses nor buggy. He is a very cautious man, and while he was 
considering my proposition I went home and in two weeks I had engaged 
seventy-five farm views of the farmers as they came to town. Some called me 
a fool, others a crank, but I was too much interested in my work to pay any 
attention to such people. 

On June 14, 1886, I made my first picture for the new book. Was seven 
years in making 1,500 farm views and writing 1,500 biographies, when the 



154 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

drought period stopped the enterprise for several years. But I had secured a 
nice little home and was nearly out of debt, and was again about to take up 
Ihe history scheme where I had dropped it in 18J>2, when on the morning of 
March 12, 1899, we saw our home and its cdutents go up in smoke, with no 
insurance and all our seven years' work of compiling biographies. But I still 
had the negatives of farm views and determined to make another effort. How 
well I have succeeded I will leave the reader to judge after he has read this 
book to the last page and looked at the last picture, and hope you will always 
hold in kindly remembrance, your humble servant, 

S. D. BUTCHER. 



€l)t Eillimi uf Strao (3Ioiiiluiyit af Jftrnt^lnm. 



On the morning of the 1st of April, 1887, the construction train on the 
B. «X: M. railroad pidled out of Linscott eastward bound. Billy and Hugh, who, 
not being able to wait until they reach Anselmo to commence their fun, are 
having a lively time in the caboose firing off their revolvers, terrorizing the 
train crew and passengers and cutting up cowboy antics generally. One of 
the passengers was L. H. Jewett, now postmaster at Broken Bow, who thought 
he had gotten into a pretty tough crowd. When Anselmo was reached the 
two cowboys left the train and lost no time in preparing to give that then 
lively frontier town a touch of high life a la Wild Bill and Cactus Pete. 

One Van Allen, a bootlegger of bad whisky, had warned the citizens of 
Anselmo that a visit from the cowboys was imminent and thus the people 
were in a manner prepared for their expected guests. Billy Frischauf, a 
saloon keeper, came to C. D. Pelham and asked him what he should do. Mr. 
Pelham advised him to close his saloon, and be it said to the credit of 
Frischauf, he followed the good counsel of his adviser, and not a drop of 
whisky was sold in his place during the whole of that fatal day. John An- 
derson, another saloon keeper, also promised to shut up his place during the 
stay of the cowboys. Anderson did close his saloon in the morning, but 
having some business out of town, he turned the keys over to his brother, 
Frank, who unlocked the door and ran the place wide open all day. Things 
soon began to assume a lively aspect in the little village, and A. F. McKnight, 
the man who pumped water for the railroad company, using horse power, 
brought his team over to the livery stable, saying that he had wired the 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



156 



company that their locomotives could get no water at Anseluio, as cowboys 
were painting the town and he did not propose to run the risk of getting shot. 
The boys were using the pump house as a target. 

A noticeable feature of the occasion was that one of the cowboys ap- 
peared to be a gentlemanly sort of fellow, and took no active part in the 




(HAS. PEXN, Ex-Sheriff. 
During Mr. Penn"s term of ottiee he made twenty- 
six arrests for murder. He is dow Commander 
at the Soldier's Home at Milford, Neb. 

shooting, but apparently tried to keep his companion within bounds. The 
other, however, crazy with bad whisky, determined to have all the fun he 
could get out of the spree. One of his antics was to place old tin cans on 
the tops of hitching posts in the street and then shoot them full of holes, 
regardless of the danger of passers-by, who had to seek safety by getting 
behind buildings. When they got tired of this diversiou he shot a hole 
through the stovepipe inside a furniture store, the bullet almost grazing the 
head of Mr. McDowell, who was managing the business for J. H. Brandebury, 
the proprietor. 

In the meantime some of the citizens had had a conference to discuss the 
advisability of sending for the sheriil, but they decided to wait a little while, 
hoping that the rowdies would cool off and behave themselves. The boys went 
to Anderson's saloon, where Degan, the tougher of the pair, was having a 
fine time marching around in drunken gyrations and shooting holes in the 
floor and ceiling, when a bullet from his revolver accidentally penetrated the 



156 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

toe of a young man by the name of Murray. The report immediately flew 
about town that the cowboys had shot a man, and the following telegram was 
immediately dispatched to Broken Bow: 

Anselmo, Neb., April 1, 1887. 
Sheriff Custer County, Broken Bow, Neb.: 

Cowboys are terrorizing the citizens of Anselmo, and one man has been 
shot through the foot. We ask your protection. 

(Signed) WALTER SCOTT. 

C. D. PELHAM. 

Charlie Huntington let them have an old dray horse, and another was 
procured at a livery stable kept by one Bassey. Mounted on these steeds the 
two rode into Pelham's store, helped themselves to cigars, rode out and across 
the street to the store of Weander Bros., where they got something else. By 
this time it was getting along in the afternoon, and the citizens were anxiously 
awaiting the arrival of the sheriff, who was expected every moment. After 
visiting all the stores in town, Fitzpatrick and Degan returned to the saloon, 
where they attempted the novel feat of playing a game of pool on horseback, 
Degan firing off his gun occasionally to emphasize his points. It was in 
the midst of this diversion that Sheriff .Penn and his deputy arrived, pulling 
up at Pelham's barn. Tom Kimes and Charlie Murray rode out of the barn 
and Penn, mistaking them for the cowboys, brought his Winchester to his 
shoulder and commanded them to throw up their hands. Pelham apprised 
Penn of his mistake, much to the relief of the frightened young men. At this 
juncture another report from Degan's revolver rang out and Penn inquired: 
^'What shooting is that?" "Cowboys in the saloon," was the reply. 

The cowboys were soon given a tip that the sheriff was in town, when 
they immediately rode out of the saloon into the street, where they got a 
glimpse of the officer, surrounded by a crowd of citizens, in front of the livery 
barn. They fired a parting salute from their six-shooters and rode out of town 
to the northwest. Penn and his men followed them to a house situated on a 
triangular piece of ground on the outskirts of the village. From this house a 
road went directly north and another ran parallel with the railroad track in 
a northwesterly direction. The latter road was taken by the cowboys, who 
proceeded as far as the hand-car house and then came to a standstill. Penn 
and his men halted at the dwelling house above referred to, where they waited 
to see what the boys were going to do. After about fifteen minutes Fitzpatrick 
and Degan turned the heads of their horses around and slowly approached 
the sheriff's party. Penn placed his deputy, Jones, and Humphrey Smith, 
who had volunteered to assist him, at the northeast corner of the house, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA 157 

yarding the road from the north, which passed on the east side of the bnild- 
ing. He gave them strict orders that in case the cowboys came their way to 
first demand of them to halt; then, if they did not stop, to shoot their horses; 
and finally, if they still refused to surrender, to shoot them. Penn took his 
station near the southeast corner, that being the point to which the boys 
were apparently approaching. When within a short distance from the house 
they turned and rode directly east, striking the road running north and south, 
and were rapidly nearing the deputies. One of the men shouted out: "Here 
they come!" and Penn rushed over from his corner and commanded: "Throw 
up your hands; I am the sheriff of Custer county!" The boys paid no atten- 
tion to the command. Eye witnesses say that the horses were shot first. 
Fitzpatrick's animal becoming frantic, he held the bridle rein with his left 
hand and was reaching behind to grasp the saddle to keep from falling off, 
when Smith, thinking he was reaching for his revolver, fired and shot him 
through the heart. It was afterwards learned that Fitzpatrick was unarmed, 
having thrown his revolver away before he rode back to town, possibly 
thinking that in case he was arrested it would go easier with him if it was 
found that he did not carry a weapon. Degan's horse was also shot, and 
refusing to surrender, the rider then and there met the same fate at the hands 
of Penn. An inquest was held and a verdict returned to the effect that the 
two cowboys had been killed while resisting arrest at the hands of officers 
of the law. 

The victims of this lamentable tragedy had no one to blame but them- 
selves for their undoing. They were not at heart vicious boys, but the wild 
life they led on the range had made them reckless and foolhardy, and in 
accordance with the cowboy ethics of that period they considered the holding 
up of a town a species of innocent pastime. Anselmo had been quite a favor 
ite resort for these rowdies from the range, whose periodical visits always re- 
sulted in trouble. The citizens, therefore, who furnished them with liquor, 
were partly to blame for the consequences of an injudicious mixture of bad 
whisky and rowdyism. 

NOTE — By Author. Space will not allow us to enter more fully into this 
matter, and the above facts were obtained from affidavits and citizens who 
were on the ground at the time. 





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160 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




JOSEPH Y. PROVINCE 

Was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 18, 1825, and was married in 
1848, in Marion county. West Virginia, to Permelia J. Stevens, who was born 
at Green, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1829. Mr. Province was the father of 
thirteen children, John H., Margaret A., Angeline, Jasper S., Celia J., Martha 
E., Newton G., Louisa, Nathan S., Samuel U., Philip S., Selina and Jessie P. 



Sfje JBrJODincB SragBtJji. 



Early in the spring of 1885, if we had traveled down Spring creek, which 
empties into the South Loup river some six miles below the present site of 
Callaway, we would have seen on the north side of the river an immigrant 
camp, the foundation laid for a new sod house, and an old man and his sev- 
eral sons busily engaged in finishing their habitation. They were building 
their house near a large draw, which led to the river near by. This claim was 
inside the Brighton ranch inclosure, and had previously been taken by another 
man, but the law had not been complied with, and at this time old man 
Province appears to be the only man in Nebraska who desires this particular 
piece of land. Visiting the same place three days later, we find the Province 
building completed and lumber on the ground for another heuse a short dis 
tance away. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 161 

One of the boys came in and said : "Dad, we are to have a new neighbor, 
who is starting to build over j^onder, and if I can see straight he's building 
awful close to our line. In fact I think he must have made a mistake and is 
several rods over on our land." "O, no, boy; I reckon not, and I am glad we 
are going to have neighbors." "So am I, dad, but you'll find I am right. 
Here he comes now, we will find out who he is, and as he has done no work 
yet, if he is wrong he will not be put out much by the mistake." 

"Good morning, sir; I see we are going to have some neighbors, and right 
glad I am to welcome you. But one of the boys was just telling me he thinks 
you have made a mistake and are building on our claim. Bein' a stranger, 
such things can very easily happen, and one of the boys or I can show you 
the corner so as to be sure. 

"Well, old man, I think you are mistaken, and you have built on my 
claim, as I have papers on this claim and am going to build on it, so you can 
vacate as soon as you please." 

"So have I, Mr. — what might your name be?" 

"Long, sir." 

"Well, Mr. Long, I went to the land office and found a pre-emption had 
been filed on this claim, and knowing the law had not been fulfilled, I tiled 
homestead papers on it and I am living here." 

"Well, sir, I have the relinquishment papers of the man who had a pre- 
emption on this claim, and I intend to stay." 

"All right, Mr. Long; we will let the courts settle to whom the claim 
belongs." 

This man Long was a single man and an employe of the Brighton Ranch 
Company. The feud thus started between the rival claimants to this land 
ended later in the killing of old man Province. 

It will be remembered that the land within this immense pasture, com- 
prising some fifteen square miles of territory, was government land subject to 
entry by homesteaders, and was simply appropriated by the cattle men with- 
out warrant of law. As soon as settlers began to file on claims within its 
fence the ranch company had as many of its employes as possible file on claims 
in order to retain for its use the claims thus taken. Long is said to have 
been one of these employes, and from this time on constant quarrels occurred 
between him and Province, pending the decision of the land office as to the 
rightful owner of the claim. There were charges and counter charges. At 
one time, we believe, the ranch company had the Province boys, George 
Sickler and John McDermott, arrested on a charge of cattle stealing. John 
McDermott demanded a separate trial, and the company proved that he 
helped to kill a 1,600-pound beef and carried one hind quarter two miles in 



162 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

a two-biTshel sack. John S. Kirkpatrick (now a member of the Nebraska 
Supreme Court Commission), then a young man just starting in business in 
Custer county, had John's case in hand. He took advantage of this evidence, 
made an eloquent plea, showing that his client was a man who weighed but 
110 pounds, yet had been charged with carrying one-quarter of a l,GOO-pound 
beef two miles in a two-bushel sack. The jury was out about fifteen minutes, 
and it is said they agreed among themselves that they believed the prisoner 
was not guilty, but if he had done as the testimony said he did, Mac had 
earned the beef. The cases against the Province boys and Sickler never came 
to trial. 

On Thursday morning, April 9, 1885, Mr. Province started to Broken Bow, 
leaving two sons, aged about twelve and fourteen respectively, to plow. 
Shortly after the departure of Province, Long appeared where the boys were 
at work, armed with a Winchester, and ordered them to quit or he would 
shoot. The boys immediately quit work and started after their father, over- 
taking him before he arrived at Broken Bow. Mr. Province came on to town 
and contemplated getting out a warrant, but being advised not to do so, re- 
turned home during the evening. The next morning he went out and com- 
menced plowing where the boys had left off. A few hours later John Mc- 
Dermott came galloping into Broken Bow with the news that Mr. Province 
had been shot down by Stephen Long or Charles Powell. Dr. Daum imme- 
diately started for the scene of the tragedy and found that Province was dead. 

On Saturday morning Dr. Hull, county coroner, summoned a jury, and 
in company with a large number of citizens of Broken Bow and the surround- 
ing country, visited the place where the murder had been committed, where 
all the testimony available was taken. The first witness examined was Maria 
Powell, wife of Charles Powell, who lived in the house with Long, In her 
testimony Mrs. Powell said that she was in the house when the shooting 
occurred; Mr. Powell and Mr. Long had gone out of the house; Mr. Long had 
a Winchester and Mr. Powell a needle gun; did not see the men when the 
shooting commenced, and did not see outside until after Mr. Province was 
shot; heard Province call for Mr. Long to come on, he was ready for him. She 
thought Province had fired five shots. Long two and her man the last shot. 
When the shooting was over she saw Long and Powell in the dooryard, and 
Mrs. Province coming down to where her husband was lying. I asked Mr. 
Long: "Did you hit him? He said: 'I guess I did, for he fell.' " The men 
staid about the house until after dinner and then went down to Allyn's lower 
ranch, 

Philip S. Province, a son of the deceased, said he was plowing with his 
father; that Steve Long and Charley Powell came out of the house and shot 



AND^SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 163 

two or three times, and that his father then shot at them several times with 
a revolver. The men were about seventy-five yards distant when the firing 
commenced, and he was sure his father did not commence shooting first. 
After they had fired several shots he saw Long behind a wagon and Powell 
on the west side of the house. They kept on firing and then Province fired 
several shots at them with his revolver, and also with a shotgun which he 
had with him. He then started for the house and had gone about twenty feet 
when he fell. The shooting took place about 8 o'clock in the morning. 

Joseph Y. Province, supposed to be on his death bed, but in sound mind 
and memory, doth depose and say: 

Stephen D. Long, and, I think, the man living in the house with said Long, 
on the 10th day of April, 1885, about 8 o'clock in the morning, came out and 
commenced shooting at me, with repeating rifles, as near as I could make out. 
I shot back at them. I was in my field plowing, about fifty yards from said 
Long's house, when the firing commenced. After they had shot once or twice 
I shot back. I shot five times, one with a single barrel shot gun and balance 
with a revolver. Buck shot No. 3 was in the shot gun. They shot a dozen or 
more shots. After I had shot all in my weapons, as I thought, I called to 
them to stop shooting; I would give up; but they kept on shooting until one 
of them hit me. I do not know which one hit me. When said Long came 
out I said: "Now draw your revolver on me if you want to." I was on my 
way to my house when I was shot. I was about 100 yards from said Long's 
house when I was shot. JOSEPH Y. PROVINCE. 

(His (X) Mark.) 

Witness to his mark, Jasper Newlau. 

Sworn and subscribed to before me, in the town of Custer, county of Cus- 
ter, and state of Nebraska, this 10th day of April, A. D. 1885. 

BENJAMIN L. BRISBANE, 
Town Clerk for the Town of Custer. 

The following verdict was returned by the coroner's jury: 

STATE OF NEBRASKA, 

Custer County. 
At an inquisition held at the late residence of Joseph Y. Province, in 
Custer county, Nebraska, on the 11th day of April, 1885, before Wyman 
Hull, coroner of said county, upon the body of Joseph Y. Province, Ijing dead, 
by its jurors, whose names are hereunto subscribed, the said jurors, upon 
their oaths, do say that the deceased came to his death by means of a gun- 
shot wound, infiicted by a bullet discharged from a gun in the hands of one 
Stephen Long or one Charles Powell, whom the jury find made a felonious 



164 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



assault upon the said deceased, on the morning of April 10, 1885, with repeat- 
ing rifles, each of said parties firing several shots at deceased, one of which 
shots struck and produced the death of said Joseph Y. Province. 

I. T. MERCHANT, Foreman, 

A. W. GANDY, 

M. CONLEY, 

H. A. GRAHAM, 

C. J. ELLIOTT, 

GEO. CUDEBEC. 

Shortly after the shooting Long and Powell hid themselves in the hills. 
When the sheriff, C. P. Foote, arrived on the spot on Saturday- he found 
about seventy-five armed men there in a state of great excitement, vowing 
vengeance against the murderers. The sheriff tried to reason with them, but 
they were not disposed to listen to him. He said the}' had a perfect right 




Old Hrighton Ranch. 

to be there if they were there to see the law carrid out, but if they were there 
to commit another deed of violence he advised them to disband and go home. 
This enraged the mob the more and a petition was gotten up on the spot, 
calling upon the sheriff to resign, which was signed by about fifty persons on 
the butt of a musket. A messenger came from the murderers that they would 
give themselves up if they were guaranteed protection against violence at the 
hands of the citizens. This assurance was given and Long and Powell were 
arrested and taken before T. B. Buckner, a justice of the peace, where they 
waived examination. A mittimus was issued and the prisoners taken to the 
jail at Plum Creek for safe keeping until their trial in the District Court, a 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 165 

number of citizens having declared that the men would never be tried in 
Custer county, but that they would be hanged without a trial. 

As soon as the sheriff had left with the prisoners, the mob which was 
left behind, instead of returning to their homes, proceeded down the river to 
the White House, the headquarters of the Brighton Ranch Company, where 
Jived Virgil Allyn, the foreman. Mr. AUyn was absent at Plum Creek at the 
time, and the citizens set about sacking and looting the place from cellar to 
garret, helping themselves to everything in the shape of eatables and drink- 
ables they could lay their hands on. As Allyn was one of the highest livers in 
the country, it is needless to say that the hungry mob had a feast the like of 
which few of them had enjoyed since they came to the country. Among 
his other supplies the foreman had a cask of rare old wine, which he kept for 
the especial entertainment of the guests at the numerous banquets that were 
held at the White House. The discovery of this treasure was hailed with a 
shout by many of the mob, and a goodly number of them began to load up on 
liquor. At this stage of the proceedings an old gray-headed man, who was 
among them, realizing the danger of adding intoxication to the already in- 
flamed passions of the men, seized a hatchet and knocked in the head of the 
cask, letting the contents run out on the ground. This brave act probably 
saved Custer county from an added blot upon her already blackened record, 
and the name of Isaac Merchant should be revered for all time to come for 
his timely interference at this critical time. After having satisfied their appe- 
tites, the raiders loaded up all the canned goods and other provisions they 
could find about the place and carried them to the widow Province, the cooler 
heads only preventing the others from burning the house before they left. 
On their way back a log house belonging to the Brighton Kanch Company 
was burned. The house was of cedar logs and was valued at |1,000. By this 
time Allyn had heard, in Plum Creek, of what was going on, and started at 
once for home to protect his property. Fortunately, before his arrival, the 
mob dispersed, else there would, in all probability, have been more trouble 
of a serious nature, as he brought a posse of armed cowboys with him. 

The session of the District Court in which Long and Powell were tried 
convened on Monday, July 6, 1885, with Judge Francis C Hamer on the 
bench. A special venire of 120 were summoned to try the case. The empan- 
eling of the jury commenced before noon on Monday and was not completed 
until 10 o'clock on Tuesday. The following jurors were chosen: L. Sutton, 
West Union; John K. Cooper, Ortello; S. H. Read, Merna; William Hyatt, 
Myrtle; C. A. Wetherby and J. Snell, Keota; H. Gage, A. C. Blakeslee, W. H. 
Henderson, Wood River; H. C. Stuckey, Georgetown; J. L. Oxford, Lillian. 

The attorneys for the state were: H. M. Sinclair, district attorney; Aaron 



166 



PIONEER HISTOKY OF CUSTER COUNTY 





^ !^|fcv 


■1 


'■m^ *^ ( 


1 

^ 


^JL i 


^ 


B^i^^mi^^^^^H 



V. ALLYN. 



Wall and Thomas Darnell, while the defendants Avere represented by Attor- 
neys McNamar, Greene and Chapman. After a hard fonght legal battle the 
jury retnrned the following verdict: 
The State of Nebraska i 

vs. i"SS. 

Stephen Long and Charles Powell, J 

We, the jury in this case, being duly empaneled and sworn, do find and 
say that we find the defendant, Stephen Long, is guilty of manslaughter, as 
charged in the indictment, and recommend him to the mercy of the court; 
and Ave find the defendant, Charles Powell, not guilty. 

LOUIS SUTTON, Foreman. 

In due time the following sentence was pronounced against Stephen Long 
by Judge Hamer: 

It is therefore considered and adjudged by the court that the said defend- 
ant, Stephen Long, be imprisoned and confined in the penitentiary of the 
state of Nebraska, at hard labor, for the period of four years and six months, 
and that he pay the costs of this prosecution, and that he stay committed in 
the hands of the sheriff of Custer county, Nebraska, until the sentence of this 
court be complied with or he be otherwise legally discharged. 

After serving about two years of his time, Long was pardoned out on 
account of ill health and died in about a month thereafter. 



AND SHOKT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 167 



M Qlinnlii^y'it Moxu. 



James Farley. 



James E. Farley, the writer of the following sketch, was born in Piatt 
connt}^ Missouri, February 26, 1850. In the summer of 1878 left Dodge City, in 
southwestern Kansas, a famous cattle town, bound for Nebraska, over the 
overland trail via Ogallala and North Platte. Arrived on the Middle Loup 
river in the fall of the same year, and wintered in Custer county. In the 
spring of 1879 I returned to Kansas, where I took part in the round-up on the 
Smoky river, in the employ of Major Wilson, who represented an English firm. 
Their ranch was located on Hell creek, which empties into Smoky river. I 
worked up to the head of the Smoky in eastern Colorado, and then across 
to the Saline river, down the latter stream to north of Buffalo City, where 
I struck the cow trail to Nebraska. I reached the Dismal river about the 10th 
of May, in time to strike the northern round-up. We worked from the mouth 
of the Dismal river to the head. I was then in the employ of Finch-Hatton 
Brothers, also an English firm. It was my duty to visit all the ranges where 
cattle were held, look for all cattle belonging to my employers and drive 
them in. We went north to North & Cody's ranch, and from there into the 
lake country. On the night of our arrival here I lay down on the prairie, 
wrapped my blanket around me, and slept as soundly as a babe. The next 
morning the ground appeared as if it had been disturbed. One of our men 
named John Daugherty, dug down and found an Indian buried in a sitting 
posture, his head not a foot under ground. The body was in an advanced 
state of decay, and the Indian had probably been one of a band of Cheyennes 
which had passed through the previous fall on their way to Pine Ridge. On 
1his round-up we found a great many unbranded cattle from three to four 
years old that had probably never before seen a man. These were cattle that 
had strayed away from the different ranches, and as the country was strange 
to us, we wondered where they got water, but we found later on that there 
was plenty of water a short distance west of us. From here we came back to 
Dave Kankin's ranch, better known as Woods' Stage ranch, on the Black 
Hills trail from Kearney, twenty-eight miles from the head of the Middle Loup 
river, and wound up at the Finch-Hatton ranch, where we started. I then 
quit this outfit and went to Ogallala and hired out to Phil Dufrand, who was 
foreman of the Cottonwood ranch on the South Loup river, for whom I worked 



168 



PIONEER HISTORY OP CUSTER COUNTY 




Owl's Nest in Cheesbrough Canon. 



J, Pointer, Artist. 



two years. We were near neighbors to the Olives, whose ranch was about 
four miles dowu the river. Phil Dufrand was a jolly good fellow. I also be- 
came well acquainted, while here, with Marion and I. P. Olive, and found them 
nice men to get along with. In the spring of 1880 the first round-up com- 
menced in May, at North & Cody's ranch. From there we went to Inman's 
ranch on the Birdwood; from there to Bratt's ranch at the mouth of the Bird- 
wood, west of North Platte; from there to Plummer's ranch, near Brady 
island; from there to Fowler's ranch, at the head of the South Loup; from 
there to John Henry's ranch near the falls of the South Loup; from there to 
Dan Haskell's ranch; from there to Duffee's ranch on the Cottonwood; from 
there to Olive's ranch on the South Loup, at the mouth of Spring creek; from 
there to the Brighton ranch, Virg. Allyn, foreman; and then to several other 
ranches east of the Black Hills trail, when the round-up broke and we re- 
turned home with our cattle. 

During my fifteen years' experience as a cowboy, I was with the wildest 
bunch of cattle ever driven through from the coast. They stampeded every 
night on the trip, rain or shine. There were 1,500 of them, and we held them 
for some time on the summer range in southwestern Kansas, on the Little 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 169 

Arkansas river. We first built a stocljade and tried to hold them in that, 
but they would run round and round and stack up one on top of the other 
until they broke down the walls and got away. We then herded them on the 
prairie, six cowboys taking turns of two hours each during the night, two 
standing guard at once, and whenever a stampede commenced all hands had 
to turn out, often riding all night through a driving storm of rain, with the 
lightning making the heavens a continuous blaze and the thunder crashing 
like a continuous bombardment, frightening the cattle until they were almost 
frantic. Often at daybreak we would find ourselves twenty miles away from 
the camp. 

Cattle generally follow some leader, stringing out in single file, and they 
will follow the leader as long as he runs. If we were able to keep up with the 
leader or head him ofP we could get the cattle to going in a circle, and after 
a while to bunch them and get them stopped. Sometimes we were not able 
to get ahead of the cattle in a stampede, but had to follow alongside, catch- 
ing glimpses of them when the lightning flashed, strung out a long distance 
ahead of us. Many of these cattle were five or six years old, and had never 
been near a man since they were branded, and were as wild as a herd of 
buffalo. When we started out with them the first week they were on the 
constant lookout to get away. After succeeding a few times, some of them 
became spoiled to such an extent that they had to be killed to keep them 
from demoralizing the rest of the herd. One time there were two cow camps 
of us holding cattle on the head of Cow creek. Jim Dalzell, a lone settler, 
had a fine w'atermelon patch and he told the cowboys that they could have all 
the melons they wanted, but some of the boys in the other camp thought it 
would be so much nicer to steal them, and our camp, in connection with one of 
their men, put up a job on them that caused all of us to have three weeks' 
extra work. We found out the time set by the boys of the other camp to 
make a raid on the melons, and stationed our men in the patch to welcome 
them when they entered. They soon made their appearance, tied their horses, 
and came over into the patch, Billy Kessler, the man in the plot, leading them 
right up to where we were hidden in a bunch of weeds. We had taken the 
balls out of our cartridges to prevent any accident in the darkness. "Come 
over this way, boys; here's some fine ones," shouted Billy, as he led them 
towards us. We could hear them scrambling through the melon vines, thump- 
ing the melons as they came. When within a few feet of us, we sprang out 
with a yell and "bang, bang, bang," went the revolvers. Billy bravely held 
his ground, returning our fire, but the other boys took to their heels, dashed 
through the creek, with us after them, and firing at every jump. In their 
fright they rushed through both herds of cattle. The cattle stampeded and 



170 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

scampered away over the prairie and it took us three weeks to get them 
together again after this adventure. 

We came in contact with nearly every Indian tribe between Red river in 
northern Texas, and the Dakotas, and saw many tlirilling buffalo hunts by 
the Osages. They would kill the buffalo by riding single file, each man 




Has Scented Danger. 

carrying a spear, which was aimed at some vital spot. If he missed, another 
Indian took his place, until the buffalo was down, the squaws following, skin- 
ning and securing the meat and the hides. 

Towards the end of my cowboy career I worked for the Bar-7 ranch, of 
which David Rankin was principal owner. This ranch was located on the 
Middle Loup. 

Large herds of elk roamed over this country at that time. While on the 
round-up in 1881 we sighted a large bunch which had winded us. The boys 
off with their ropes and after them. C. W^ Stern, John Carney, Bert Wilder, 
Charley Peterson, a green hand at the cattle business, and six or eight others 
were in the chase and there was enacted one of the most thrilling incidents 
ever witnessed on the plains of Nebraska. Peterson singled out the biggest 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OP EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 171 

buck in the buncli, and as soon as Charley bejjan to preps him liard, lie left 
the bunch and ran in another direction, Peterson close at his heels. I knew 
that Charley wonld never let np until he had secured the buck, and I knew 
full as well that he would have trouble when he threw his rope over the pow- 
erful beast, as he never carried a jjun. I followed him as fast as my horse 
could carry me. I lost sight of him for a while in the chop hills, but soon dis- 
covered him again as I rode up on a little hill. He had the elk at the end of 
his rope about eighty rods from me. The first move I saw was the elk mak- 
ing a run on the rope, and when he came to the end of it he fell heavily to the 
ground. He then jumped up and charged Peterson's horse. As he came on, 
head down, at the rate of about fifty miles an hour, Charlie spurred his horse 
to one side and let the elk pass, and gave him another tumble as the rope 
tightened up. I waited to see no more but galloped as fast as my horse could 
carry me to his assistance, as I knew that it was only a question of time when 
the infuriated brute would catch the fearless boy in one of his charges. As I 
rode up the elk was making his third charge, but Peterson evaded him again 
and gave him another tumble at the end of the rope. When about three 
hundred feet from Peterson the elk had again regained his feet, lowered his 
head for another charge, his eyes flashing fire, and with terrific bounds made 
for the plucky boy. It seemed to me that it would be impossible for him to 
get out of the way of those terrible horns. But again he let the elk pass by 
without touching him and again he brought the brute to the ground at the 
end of the rope, pulling him square over on his back. Quick as lightning 
Peterson reined his horse backward, tightened the rope, jumped out of the 
saddle, whipped out a big jack knife, and slashed it across the throat of the 
prostrate beast. I shouted to him with all my might to desist, as I expected 
to see him killed every second, but he heard nothing and saw nothing but that 
elk, and before I came up Peterson was back in his saddle. ''What the devil 
did you do that for?" I shouted, as soon as I reached him. "I did na want 
loosse ma rope — da boys da laugh at ma." The other boys followed the bunch 
and C. N. Stern succeeded in roping two of them at one throw, but one of 
them got away. None of the boys that saw the sport will ever forget it. 

Once seventy-five men started from Raymond lake, fifteen miles west of 
the head of Middle Loup, river to go to the Newman ranch on the Running 
Water. W^e were driving fifteen hundred head of cattle for the northern 
ranches. We missed our course and traveled for two days in a circle among 
the sand hills. W^e neither had water for horses or cattle, and on the third 
day the poor brutes became frantic with thirst. It took the utmost efforts of 
the men to keep them from breaking away, and their bellowing was something 
absolutely heartrending. Men could be seen on every hill around us trying to 



172 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



see if water could be discovered. At last I saw two men standing on a hill 
some distance off motioning in such a way that I knew they had found some- 
thing. I rode up to them and found the nicest little lake of pure water I have 
ever seen among the sand hills. We all filled our kegs before letting the cat- 
tle into the water. After the rejoicing at our find had somewhat subsided 
we discovered that we were within half a mile of the place from which we 
had started three days before. We had a good compass, but all the men had 
declared the compass was no good. Stern had told them of an old trail which 
led to the Running Water, and they expected to follow that, but it was so 
dim they crossed it without noticing it, and kept traveling in a circle for three 
days. After a good breakfast and all the water we could drink, John Darr, 
two other cowboys and myself, were sent out to find the old trail, which we 
soon did, and led the party out of the wilderness, reaching our destination 
safely in due time. 



J^Iaytnci I^icfi Hilfnu. 



Billy Smith, the new cook at Olive's ranch — a "tenderfoot" from the East 
— stands with mouth wide open, with a huge piece of beef poised on a fork, 
preparatory to frying it for dinner for a hungry lot of cowboys who have just 
come in from the range. Some of them are lounging in their bunks, others 
playing cards, while still others are discussing the probability of Dick Milton 
being captured by Dick James, sheriff of Dawson county, who is looking for 
the noted outlaw. 

"Say," puts in the cook, "you fellers seem to think Dick Milton is a 
mighty hard man to catch. Do you know I'd just like to see him once?" 

"All right, Billy; I'll give you an introduction to him one of these days," 
remarked John Finch, one of the youngest cowboys on the ranch, but as full 
of mischief as a monkey. 

"Well, I'd just like to see him." 

A few days later the boys were all gone from the ranch except John 
Finch and the cook, the latter being busy preparing the noonday meal for 
two. Happening to look out the small window of the log ranch house. John 
observed Sam Sweely approaching. In an instant the idea of having some 
fun with the cook occurred to him. Sam was a stranger to Billy, and withal 
he had some slight resemblance to the outlaw whose acquaintance Billy was 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 173 

anxious to make. Slipping: out of the door, John intercepted Sam and laid 
his plan before him, and Sam, being somewhat of a wag himself, readily en- 
tered into the spirit of the scheme. The couple then entered the house. With 
a great flourish and show of extreme politeness, John said: 

"Mr. Smith, allow me to introduce you to Dick Milton." 

Billy's eyes stuck out like two potatoes as he faintly gasped: "I hope I 
see you." 

''Well, young man, have you got dinner about ready? I'm as hungry as a 
hyena," the meanwhile swaggering about the room making a great display of 
a couple of huge revolvers dangling at his belt. ''Come, hurry up there, and 
don't be all day about it. D'ye hear?" 

"Yes, sir," answered Billy, timidly. 

"Say, young man, are ye lookin' fer a job?" 

"Yes, sir," replied Billy, rather dubiously, "Mr. Olive is not at home, and 
I'm cooking until he comes back. Perhaps I can get a job from him." 

"Well, sir, I want to hire a good, steady, reliable feller, and I've taken a 
kinder notion to you. How would fifty dollars a month strike ye, with the 
chance of a raise as soon as ye get onto yer job?" 

"Why — er, I guess that would be all right, but — but — " 

"It's a bargain then, and you can commence this evening. I'll go out and 
see if I can find a horse for ye. Finch, you come out and show me where 
Olive keeps his saddle horses; I must have one for Smith. I'm a little short 
on horses just now, myself, but if we have good luck to-night I expect to have 
some good ones in the morning." 

John and Sam started off to find a horse, leaving behind them the worst 
scared cook in Custer county. He had a good notion to slip out of the door 
and fly for his life, but he was afraid that the watchful eye of Milton would 
detect the flight and probably result in his being shot. He concluded to wait 
for a better opportunity. 

Olive had an old pony that had its ears frozen so that one of them lopped 
forward and the other backward. He weighed about six hundred and fifty, 
and had the mange so bad that the hair was off in spots as big as a half 
bushel. In addition to his other infirmities he was lame in three legs, and 
altogether the sorriest looking pony a man ever saw. Sam threw his lariat 
over the beast and started to the ranch house with him, Finch skipping on 
ahead and entering the house. As he entered the door the cook said: 

''Say, John, do you know I'm awful sorry I promised Milton I'd w'ork for 
him. Do you think he would let me back out?" 

"I don't know, Billy; he's not a man to be monkeyed with, and I would 
advise you not to make him mad. You was a big fool to hire out to him; but 



174 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Here, Smith, is the best I can do for you now, but tonight we are going to make a fifteen mile dasli 
on a rancli, where, if we come out alive I can get you a popper. 



it is too late to squeal now, and you had better make the best of it. There he 
comes with a horse for you and is motioning for you to come out." 

Billy ver}^ reluctantly went out, and Sam said: ''Here, Smith, this is the 
best I can do for ye just now; d'ye think he can carry ye?" 

"I doubt it," replied Billy. 

"Well, yon will have to do the best you can with him. To-night we have 
a fifteen-mile dash down the river to a ranch where we can get you a good 
popjjer. Take him to the stable, feed him some grain and brush him up a 
little. I will be back here at ten o'clock to-night, and shall expect you to be 
ready. D'ye hear?'' 

Billy returned to the house greatly relieved to know that his new boss 
was to be absent for a few hours, while Sam and John, unable to keep so good 
a joke to themselves, crossed the river to tell Al. Wise and Billy Cole. While 
at Al. Wise's house they heard three shots fired in rapid succession over at 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 175 

Olive's, and rushing across to see what was the matter, thej' found John 
Wheat lying on the ground almost splitting his sides with laughter.. 

It appears that the cook, upon the departure of the supposed Dick Milton, 
came to the conclusion that discretion in this case would be the better part of 
valor, and hastily packing up his few belongings, he started to leave the 
country. He had gotten but a few rods from the ranch house when he was 
discovered by John Wheat, who called out to him to halt. Billy paid no heed 
to the command, but started to run, and Wheat, seeing a stranger trying to 
run away from him, determined to find out the reason why. He accordingly 
fired three shots over the fellow's head. Smith stopped and ran back to 
Wheat with a face as white as a sheet. 

"Who are you, anyway?" inquired Wheat. 

"My name is Smith, and I've been cooking for Olive. Old Dick Milton 
came along to-day and like a fool I hired out to him. He is going to hold up 
some ranch to-night and will be back at ten o'clock after me, and I'm going 
to get out of this before he comes." 

With this he started, and was just disappearing on the trail down the 
river, on a not very graceful trot, when Sweely and Finch returned to see who 
w^as shooting and discovered Wheat in the middle of his laughing fit. Poor 
Billy floundered along as far as Virg. Allyn's, better known as the Brighton 
ranch, where Billy AUyn kindly took a horse and volunteered to pilot the 
fugitive across the river, as the latter had concluded to try to make his way 
to Plum creek, where he thought he could evade the clutches of the terrible 
Dick Milton. In crossing the river the pony got stuck in the quicksand and 
Smith slid from his back into the water, w^aded to the opposite shore and took 
to the hills as fast as his legs could carry him. He got as far as Louis Wambs- 
gan's on Wood river by dark, and put up there for the night, telling Wambs- 
gan the whole story. When he went to bed he placed an old razor and a dirk 
made out of a case knife, under his pillow, resolved, if Milton should call for 
him before morning, to sell his life as dearly as possible. The next day he 
walked and ran into Plum Creek and told of his narrow escape, and also that 
Dick Milton had planned a raid on some ranch about fifteen miles down the 
river from Olive's the night previous. 

It happened that this story came to the ears of Eugene Boblits and Cap- 
tain Stuckey, who had been in I*lum Creek for several days, and they con- 
cluded that their ranch must be the one that was to be raided. They at once 
mounted their horses, and put out for home through the darkness, where they 
arrived about daylight the next morning, fulh* expecting to find their horses 
all gone; but they were agreeably disappointed to find everything just as they 
had left it. 



176 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

Some three years after the events narrated above, John Finch was wait- 
ing one day for the train in the station at Plum Creek, when he recognized 
Billy Smith in the crowd. John pulled his hat down over his eyes to keep 
Smith from recognizing him and beating him to death for the part he played 
in the Milton deal. Conscience makes cowards of us all. 



BrtijIjfDU KatTi:!;. 



Dr. Victor Coffman. 



One of the most prominent and probably notorious places in Custer 
county is that which is owned by Dr. Victor H. Coffman of Omaha, Nebraska, 
and managed by Mr. R. C. Chumbley. It was one of the first ranches of any 
note, improved and developed on the South Loup river. It is located five miles 
north of Oconto on the Kearney branch of the Union Pacific railroad. The 
history of the Brighton and Abel ranches refers to an experience which cost 
the Brighton ranch people quite $100,000. This history is that of men having 
confidence in the countr3\ Their method of handling cattle was in the line of 
the open range system. Here was a country with the South Loup river run- 
ning through the most beautiful valley in Nebraska, producing grass equal to 
any country, for meadows, and the hills growing the buffalo grass, a winter 
feed unequaled. 

The history of this ranch was a high-priced foreman, and the festive cow- 
boys in number riding the range, which extended up and down this river for 
many miles. Had they spent part of that time putting up hay and providing 
feed for the winters, notwithstanding the fact of numerous contests and mis- 
management which resulted so disastrously to the company, the results would 
have been different. Here was a good country adapted to stock-raising. 

Dr. Coffman became interested in Custer county when he made a deal 
with Virgil Allyn in 1889, for his equity in the remnant of the Brighton ranch 
on the South Loup river. He transferred the management to Mr. R. C. Chum- 
bley. Many of the owners of small tracts wished to dispose of their lands, 
which were purchased by Dr. Coffman, he having confidence in the country for 
cattle raising which he thought superior to any in the United States. He 
has continuously demonstrated his convictions by the purchase of adjoining 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



177 





?/r^ c^p4v^^ ^ ^ b^ 



R. C. CHUMBLEY. 



lands until the nineli now contains ^ix thousand acres, and to the satisfaction 
of the owner, who does not regret the money invested. Mr. Chumbley is now 
the lessee of this ranch, has it stocked with a large number of cattle and 
horses. He is prepared to raise one thousand acres of corn, which he puts in 
shock, averaging twenty -five bushels to the acre. He can cut over one thous- 
and tons of hay, alfalfa and native grass, handling one thousand head of cat- 
tle in summer and winter, it matters not what the season is. 

The history of the immortal Custer is associated with this ranch to the 
extent of a battle ground with rifle pits still in evidence. It requires but a 
slight stretch of the imagination to recognize a band of Indians circularing 
down this valley in war paint until a scpiad of United States soldiers rose up 
from their ambush with a volley and then charge, making a picture of the 
early days of the ranchman's life on the South Loup river, prior to the rail- 
roads, which have been the greatest boon to the country's civilization. 

The dash of the cowboy, the crack of the pistol, is the perspective of the 
picture of the present. The locomotive whistle, the telephone "hello," are 
heard at the ranch, and at no distant day. the Kearney branch of the Union 
Pacific railroad, through the far-sighted general passenger agent, Mr. E. L. 
Lomax. of the T^nion Pacific railroad, will recognize the necessity of a pass- 
enger train, instead of the ])resent accommodation, transporting hogs, cattle, 



ANP SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



179 



women and children in the same train. The women appreciate a good thing, 
and like to ride on the cars, and there are many living in Custer county who 
would not live in any other locality, who will remember him in their evening 
supplications, and the children will rise up and call liim blessed. 

It now comes to the details of a description of the improvements which 
make this ranch of so much value. A large amount of fencing which is of the 




Abel Ranch, owned by Victor Coti'man 

best, divides the farming and meadow lands from the pastures. These pas- 
tures are divided into winter and summer ranges, each adapted to the season 
in utilizing them. 

At the home place are small pastures where the horses are kept, and oth- 
ers where the cows are, making it a convenience very much appreciated. 
There are three sets of buildings. Near the center of the place on the east 
bank of the river, is the home place, a very good house, surrounded by a grove 
of cedars planted years ago, and a locust grove which has supplied thousands 
of posts. There is a good barn and feed yards well sheltered by the hills and 
watered by a windmill, and corrals and branding and dehorning chutes, lanes, 
and gates and yards for cutting out and separating cattle. There is a bridge 
across the river at this place, which is a great convenience to ever^'one who 
travels or has business in the locality. The county should recognize the neces- 
sity of a bridge at every road crossing on this river. There is above the cen- 
ter of the ranch a small house for the use of the tenant, which materially 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAHLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 181 



adds to the convenience of operating the place. The upper, or Abel ranch, has 
a cedar log house, two stories, which will last a life time. It is situated at the 
foot of a large bluff which rises to the north, affording the best winter protec- 
tion. A fine grove, and through this a stream of water fed by springs, which 
are perennial and truly hot springs, for they never freeze up. This is the ban- 
ner winter place on the ranch and to be appreciated must be visited when a 
blizzard is blowing; then you can well imagine you are at a winter resort sure 
enough. 



(By Puck.) 
One of the first ill-starred land deals in Custer county took place in the 
northwestern portion before the county was organized. A man whom we will 
call Jekyll first took a claim and afterwards abandoned it. As it was a valua- 
ble piece of land on account of the number of cedar trees growing upon it, 
which were worth thousands of dollars, several parties were very desirous of 
getting a filing on the land. Now Johnny Jump-up put off for the laud office at 
Grand Island, and found upon his arrival there that the land was in the North 
Platte district. In the meantime Siubad the sailor sent post haste for Hardy 
and furnished him a horse upon which the latter outstripped all competitors 
in the race to the land office. In consideration of Sinbad the sailor's assistance, 
Hardy was to give him a half interest in the land. While all this was going on, 
some parties induced Crazy Horse to move into the dugout on the abandoned 
claim left by Jekyll, to move his stock onto it and keep possession. This, of 
course, would give him first claim to the land and he could file his claim later. 
When Hardy returned from the land office with the claim in his pocket, as he 
thought, he was a very much disgusted man when he found Crazy Horse was 
in possession of the premises. He counseled with Sinbad, who informed him 
that Crazy Horse undoubtedly had legal possession of the land. Hardy, nev- 
ertheless, proceeded to cut down some cedar trees and constructed a house, 
which induced Crazy Horse to take to the war path, and Hardy, being a timid 
man, vacated. Sinbad was again consulted and again promised a half interest 
in the land if he could help Hardy secure it. They then and there laid a 
scheme to scare Crazy Horse off the claim. A bogus court was organized, 
and Lawyer Slick was employed to represent Hardy. Judge Dried Corn issued 
pajiers for the arrest of Crazy Horse for threatening to shoot Hardy. Con- 
stable Carball brought Crazy Horse into court. After hearing the evidence 
the justice (who, by the way, was from Missouri,) looked the prisoner sternly 
in the face and said: *'You must show^ me why you should not be sentenced 
to the penitentiary for life or else pay |500 for threatening to shoot Hardy." 
Crazy Horse could not show him, of course, being nothing but a poor, unedu- 



182 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

rated man, and the judge, after carefully consulting the pages of an old agri- 
cultural report, sentenced Crazy Horse to two years in the penitentiary. Then 
Lawyer Slick took the prisoner to one side and agreed to have his sentence 
commuted provided he would give peaceable possession of the land and give 
Hardy two cows. With the penitentiary staring him in the face. Crazy Horse 
thought he was getting off cheap by agreeing to this arrangement, as shown 
by the record in the old agricultural report. Hardy moved into the dugout 
vacated by Crazy Horse and secured the land, but it may not be out of place 
to note here that when he found himself securely in possession he entirely 
forgot his promise to Sinbad and kept the whole thing himself. 



JreB^ing nf Srapp^r in JBhuibII GlanDti. 



J. D. Haskell. 



Elisha W. Clark, a hunter and trapper, was frozen to death in Powell 
canon, northeast of Arnold, in December, 1879. Clark had been a colonel in 
the war of the rebellion, was a widower, and had for a number of years fol- 
lowed hunting and trapping for a livelihood. He established his camp in 
Powell canon on December 2nd, his only companions being his team and a 
couple of large greyhounds. About a week afterwards he was seen by a 
cedar hauler on his way to Mr. Goodyear's hay stacks after some hay for hia 
team, and said that he intended to carry the hay in his arms to his camp, 
which was three miles away. No more was thought of the trapper for some 
time by the few residents of the neighborhood, but one day the dead bodies 
of his tw^o hounds were found near Mr. Goodyear's haystacks. The weather 
was intensely cold, and the ground was covered with snow, and it was feared 
that Clark might have shared the fate that had apparently overtaken his dogs. 
A search was immediately instituted, but no trace of the missing man or his 
team could be found. On the 1st of January a party of cedar haulers reported 
that they had found a wagon and two horses in one of the numerous pockets 
of Powell canon, and a party went at once to the place, where they discov- 
ered the horses. One of the horses was dead and the other nearly so. Ai 
Clark had been missing for three weeks, it is supposed that the poor animals 
had been there about that length of time. They had gnawed the bark off the 
tree to which they were tied and eaten every bush and twig within reach. 
One of the horses had eaten the limb off to which he was tied, thus saving 



AND SHORT SKKTCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



183 




i 



K 






View in Powell t anon near head. 

bis life. The party scoured the vicinity tlioroiighly without result. The 
county commissioners oifered a reward of |50 to any one tinding; the body 
of Clark. During the following spjing, while hunting for some horses, C. W. 
liughey of Arnold came across the dead body of the unfortunate trapper at 
the head of a small pocket in the canon, his gun by his side. He had evidently 
died on his knees, apparently crawling into the narrow place to get such 
I)rotection from the cold as its walls afforded. 

It was nearly night when he had been seen at the stacks after hay, and 
it is the supposition that in attempting to return to his camp in the darkness 
he became bewildered in the maze of pockets that indent the canon, until over- 
come with weariness he sank down and was frozen to death. The body was 
found five miles southwest of where his camp had been, and had he proceeded 
another mile in the direction in which he was apparently traveling when 
he succumbed, he would have come into the South Loup valley within sight 
of Chapin's ranch. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 185 



Early in the fall of 1884 a few settlers located homesteads in the north- 
east corner of the Brighton Ranch Company's pasture, on Ash creek. This 
pasture was about fifteen miles square, and extended several miles south of 
the Loup river almost to Broken Bow, and was inclosed with a wire fence. 
The land being government land, and subject to entry, these settlers served 
notice on the ranch company to remove their fence from about their claims 
within thirty days. The company paid no attention to this request, and at 
the expiration of the time the settlers made a raid on the fence and appro- 
priated the posts to make roofs for their sod houses. Roofs in those days 
were made by laying a large log, called a ridge log, lengthwise of the build- 
ing at the top. The fence posts were then laid up to form the rafters, to 
which brush was fastened, the whole being covered with one or two layers 
of prairie sod, coated with several inches of yellow clay procured from the 
canons, which turned water very effectually. 

In a short time after the appropriation of these posts the foreman of the 
ranch had the settlers arrested and taken to Broken Bow for trial. The 
sheriff had no sooner departed with the prisoners than the second foreman of 
the ranch rigged up two large wagons, drawn by four mules each, and pro- 
ceeded to the houses of the settlers, accompanied by a number of the cow- 
boys. They drove up to a house, took a team and a large chain, hitched onto 
the projecting end of the ridge log, and in about three seconds the neat little 
home was a shapeless mass of sod, hay, brush and posts mixed up in almost 
inextricable confusion. The ranchmen then culled their posts from the wreck 
and loafled them into the wagons, when they went to the next house and 
repeated the operation, leaving the occupants to pick their few 
household goods out of the ruins at their leisure. The boys were having 
great fun at the expense of the settlers, cracking jokes and making merry as 
the work of destruction went on. After destroying several houses in this 
manner they proceeded to the claim of a Mr. King, and Mrs. King, seeing 
them approaching, met them with a shotgun and dared them to come on. 
Had it been Mr. King, the invitation would possibly have been accepted, but 
the cowboys were too gallant to enter into a quarrel with a lady, and with- 
drew without molesting her. 



186 PIONEER HISTOEY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

In the meantime a boy of the settlement had been despatched to Broken 
Bow on the fastest pony that could be procured, to secure help, and quite a 
po«se of men from the town started for the scene of action. The foreman 
of the ranch, who was in Broken Bow at the time as complaining witness 
against the settlers, heard of this and sent one of his cowboys in haste to 
warn the second foreman of the impending- invasion. This messenger arrived 
at the settlement in advance of the citizens and gave the alarm. The liouse- 
wreckers were thoroughly scared, and turning the heads of their mule teams 
towards the South Loup, applied the whip freely. As the mules began to 
run over the rough prairie the posts began to fall off the wagons, and as the 
teams began to show signs of weariness the cowboys began to heave off 
more posts to lighten the load as they bumped along, leaving a trail behind 
Ihom like that of a railroad construction gang. Arriving at the ranch, they 
turned out their mules, secured their Winchesters and made a break for the 
hills on the south side of the river to await developments. When the posse 
of rescuers arrived at the little settlement and found the invaders gone, they 
did not follow them, but returned to Broken Bow. The cowboys remained 
in the hills two days, watching for the approach of the enemy in vain. 

The ranch company failed to make any case against the settlers, it being 
shown that the ranch pasture was government land and that the claims were 
lawfully held by the homesteaders, who had a perfect right to remove the 
fence which inclosed their property. The prisoners were accordingly released 
and were not again molested. The second foreman of the ranch was subse- 
•luently arrested for tearing down the houses of the settlers, tried at Broken 
Bow, found guilty, fined |25 and costs and confined one day in the county jail. 



Al Wise. 



At the time of the Olive trial most of the men connected with that 
ranch were absent as witnesses, help was very scarce at the ranch, and the 
few that were left there were principally engaged in "tailing up" cow's that 
were so poor that they got stuck in the mud along the river and were not able 
to get up without assistance. Reader, did you ever attempt to "tail up" a 
spirited, ambitious cow? If not, you have missed a whole lot of fun — and 
so has the cow. A little experience of mine in that direction may be enter- 
taining to the reader — I know it was to me. I had been down at the corral 
attending to some horses w'hen I noticed a cow on the bank of the river trying 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA 



187 




AL. WISE. 

to get on her feet, but falling back after each attempt. Not wishing to take 
the trouble to saddle a horse, I went over to her on foot to assist her out of 
her difficulty. I soon saw that there was fight in her, but concluded she was 
too w^eak to make me any trouble. Grabbing her tail, I passed it over my 
shoulder and gave it several twists around by arm, getting as much of it in 
my hand as possible. The old cow puffed and shook her head in protest. 1 
paid no attention to her objections, but bent my back and lifted. The cow did 
likewise, and the way that old heifer got on her feet took the breath out of 
me. I saw that she was on the warpath, and that my only hope of safety 
w^as to keep hold of her tail. With a bellow she turned her glaring eyes 
around on me and took after me, spinning around like a top. By keeping a 
firm hold on her tail I just managed to keep a few inches ahead of her long 
horns. After a few turns to the right she tried it awhile to the left, but with 
no better sucess. The waltz was becoming awfully monotonous to me, and 
as we worked tow^ard a bank about ten feet high by the edge of the river, I 
dropped her tail and jumped over it with one bound. The cow was a little 
dazed by the performance, but as soon as she realized the situation she made 
for the bank, probably with the intention of following me, but gave it up 
when she came to the foot of it, pawed the ground and bellowed her defiance, 
and walked away shaking her head, probably hooking me in her mind. Two 
days after this, as I was riding along the bank of the river, I saw the old 
lady down again, but I concluded to leave her to her fate, and for all I know 
her bones are buried in the mud where I last saw- her. 



188 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



QLlmx QLxnk. 



(Puck.) 



In the summer of 1870 a couple of voun^ men drove up to tlie liouse of 
W. W. Potts with a fine span of mules and requested lodging for the night. 
One of the strangers was a tall, red-headed boy, and the other a stout lad of 
about the same age. The red-headed fellow was a great talker, and wanted 
to bring Mr. Potts a bunch of sheep to keep on shares. The other fellow was 
a fiddler and entertained the Potts family with some musical performances 
until it was time to retire. Mr. Potts lived in a dugout about fourteen feet 
square and the two boys were put to bed on the floor. They slept rather late 
the next morning, and as the door of the dugout consisted only of a blanket 
hung up as a curtain three horsemen who rode up before the family and 
their guests were astir, had no difficulty in finding out who was inside. Mrs. 
Potts was the only one in the house who was awake, and she saw the curtain 
cautiously drawn aside, revealing the face of a man who was peeking in. The 
man hastily stepped inside, drew a revolver and stood over the two sleeping 
boys. Another man outside fired a Winchester as a signal for two other men 
who were near hj, as it afterwards appeared. But one can imagine the em- 
barrassment of a farmer's family being awakened in the morning in this 
manner. Mr. Potts soon took in the situation, as he had had his suspicions 
of his two guests the night before. As a precaution he had taken their sad- 
dles and put them in the back of the dugout, so that if they had attempted 
to get up and leave in the night they could not get them without being dis- 
covered. The five men were from Buffalo county, and consisted of Captain 
Anderson, his deputy and three assistants. The boys had stolen the mules 
from a saloon keeper at Kearney, and Anderson and his men were sent in 
pursuit of them. Mr. Potts had killed a fine, black-tailed deer the day before, 
and Mrs. Potts was called upon to exhibit her skill at cooking venison for 
breakfast for her seven uninvited guests. The boys were taken back to 
Kearney, tried, found guilty of stealing the mules and sent up for three 
years. 

In the fall of 1878 Mr. and Mrs. Potts came up into Custer coimty look- 
ing for land and stayed all night at Asa Gipes'. The next morning as they 
were coming out of a canon they met a man with a load of meat and sup- 
poised it was beef. On coming to old man Mitchell's place they found him 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 189 

eating dimici' and were invited to dine with liim. Mr. Miteliell aslced Mr. 
Potts if be had ever eaten ellv meat. Upon being answered in tbe negative 
he said: 

"You are eating elk meat now." 

Mr. I'otts replied that if be bad not been told he would have thought it 
was beef. He here learned that the man he had met in tbe morning was 
Ketehum and that be was on bis way to Kearney with a load of elk meat, 
wbieb was to be sold to a butcher by the name of Gebhart. 

Note by Editor — Gebhart was afterwards put on trial to tell what kind 
of meat it was he bought from Ketelium and he replied that he ''pought der 
meat from Mister Ketehum for eleek meat, he sells him for eleck meat, und 
he says noding else." 



iMtirji of Brnfen Btim. 



D. M. Amsberry. 



The city of Broken Bow is located in township 17, range 20, in the center 
of the county, near the head of tbe Muddy, a creek that runs through the 
town. The city enjoys the advantage of tine schools and has seven churches, 
in which religious services are maintained. It has had no saloons for two 
years. Business is good and the population is gradually increasing. Broken 
Bow is the county seat of Custer county, one of the largesi counties in the 
state of Nebraska. It is known far and near on account of the oddity of its 
name. The name was suggested by a string of circumstances, rather than 
romance. In 1880, Wilson Hewitt, who was a homesteader, near where the 
city is now located, on request of the few settlers in the vicinity, petitioned 
the government for a postoffice at his place and sent in a name he thought 
was appropriate. The Postoffice Department approved the application for an 
office, but rejected the name, as a similar name had been granted on another 
petition. Two or three other names were sent in, but were rejected for the same 
reason. Mr. Hewitt was a blacksmith and a hunter, and while out hunting one 
day found a broken bow and arrow on an old Indian camping ground, and 
carried them home with him. He put them in a box in his shop with some 
old irons and thought nothing more about them. Some time afterwards he 



10O 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF CUSTER COUNTY 





D. M. AMSBERRY, 
Editor Broken Bow Republican. 



DR. C. PICKETT. 



received notice that the third name he had sent to Washin<;ton had been 
rejected, and, going to the box after a piece of iron, he piclved up the brol»:en 
bow and the name, "Broken Bow," came to his mind quiclily. He determined 
to send it in as the name for his postoftice, satisfied that there was no other 
place of the same name in the state. He consulted his wife, and she being 
willing, the name was sent in and was accepted by the department. Just how 
the Indian bow came to be broken and left on the old camp ground, is only a 
matter of conjecture. The following romance, written by Mrs. M. A. B. Martin, 
one of the early settlers of the county, tells the story of the broken ])ow : 



BROKEN BOW. 



Slow the moon rose o'er the valley. 
The valley of the BiR Sioux river, 
Shining- down upon the wigwams; 
They the red men of the Sioux tribe. 
They had camped to hold a council 
With the chief of the Dakotas. 
Known among them as War Eagle, 
For the scalp hung from his girdle; 
He had slain among the canons, 
To the southward, to the westward. 
He had fought and butchered many; 
But his brother, Navasota, 
Had been slain among the canons; 
He fell fighting the Paduchas 
For the fair lands of Nebraska. 
Each tribe claimed the elk and bison. 



Claimed the deer among the cedars 

That roamed among the tallest cedars. 

Fed upon the grass that grew there. 

The Paduchas gained the battle. 

Drove the Sioux from off the valley. 

Far beyond the Niobrara, 

To the valley of the Big Sioux 

Where dwelt the tribe of the Dakotas, 

Dwelt the Indian maid. Winneta. 

The daughter of brave Navasota. 

In the council Eagle Feather 

Sat and smoked beside his father. 

Sat and smoked the pipe among them, 

Ijistened to the great "War Eagle, 

As he planned the coming marriage 

Of the Indian maid, Winneta, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



191 





MRS. M. A. B. MARTIN. 



H. POTTER, M. D. 



To his son, the Eagle Feather. 

Was not her mother of the Sioux tribe 

Rich in wealth of lands and ponies 

When the father of Winneta 

Claimed her for his Indian bride? 

And the union of the two tribes 

Made them richer, made them stronger. 

Now the union of Winneta 

To my son, the Eagle Feather, 

Will more vmited make the friendship 

Of the Sioux and the Dakotas, 

Then they called the Indian maiden, 

Told her bid the Eagle Feather 

To do some daring deed of prowess 

To prove his great love for Winneta — 

He shall do Winneta's bidding. 

With her eyes downcast and thoughtful. 

With her voice so clear and mournful. 

Spoke she then to Eagle Feather: 

"Go to the land of the Nebraskas, 

Far beyond the Niobrara, 

Where the Sioux and the Dakotas 

Hunted, fished and roamed the prairies. 

The deep canons far beyond them. 

To the eastward flows the North Loup, 

To the southward flows the Sovith Loup. 

Where the foes of my dead father 

Dwell and hunt among the canons, 

Kill the buffalo by the hundreds. 

Kill the dark friends of Winneta, 

Killed the brave chief, Navasota, 

AVill you go and bring a token 

From the spot where sleeps my father? 

Bring his bow and bring his quiver. 

Bring his quiver full of arrows. 

That the Paduchas may not use them 

To slay more friends of poor Winneta; 

Ere another moon grows darkened 

You may return and wed TV^inneta." 

Then arose the Eagle Feather, 

Cast his eyes unon the maiden. 

"I will go and do your bidding." 

Seized his tomahawk and scalp-knife. 

Fastened them into his girdle. 



Fastened then his bow and quiver, 
A new quiver full of arrows. 
Strode he out into *^he moonlight. 
Mid the war whoop of the red men. 
Walked away adown the valley. 
Walked he on until the sunrise 
Found him hurrying southward, west- 
ward. 
To the Niobrara valley. 
Stopped at night beneath the cedars, 
Made a Are of withered branches. 
Slept beside the campflre soundly. 
Slept until the wild birds called him. 
Called him to pursue his .iourney 
Bv their sweet songs in the morning, 
Welcoming the pleasant sunrise. 
Southward, westward. Eagle Feather 
Hurried on to do the bidding 
Of the dark-eyed Indian maiden. 
For five days the Eagle Feather 
Jovirneyed on toward the South Loup. 
Slept at night beside the streamlet. 
Tired, weary, on the last night 
Made his fire beside the Muddy: 
Laid him down to rest and slumber. 
Heeding not the howling coyote 
Warning him of coming danger. 
Warning him his foes were near him; 
Slept and dreamed of home and kindred. 
Dreamed he saw the dark-eyed maiden 
Coming down the path to meet him. 
Coming down to greet her lover 
To receive the bow and quiver: 
Dreamed he on till almost sunrise. 
When the war whoop echoed wildly 
Through the canons on the prairies. 
Echoed up and down the Muddy, 
Waked he then among their yelling. 
For his foes had found him sleeping. 
Then they scalped the Ea.gle Feather, 
For they numbered near a hundred: 
Forced him for to tell his errand. 
Then they took his bow and quiver. 
Took his bow nnd broke it rudely. 



192 



PIONEER HISTOEY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



Threw it down to warn the Sioux tribe 
That they'd slain their Eagle Feather. 
Then they took their suffering- prisoner 
With them far beyond the South Loup, 
Let him die and soon forgot him. 
Many moons grew bright and darkened. 
Yet the Eagle Feather came not. 
Never came to claim his promise, 
Ne\er more returned to meet her. 
"He must be dead." she murmured 

lowly, 
"Or he would come to poor Winneta. 
Farewell, Eagle Feather, farewell. 
Your Winneta's heart is breaking. 
Breaking for her Indian lover. 
I will go away in sadness 
To the wigwam of my mother. 
Lay me down and sleep tlie death sleep. 
In the spirit land I'll meet him. 
Meet him and my brave old father; 
In the hunting grounds of the red men, 
Happy land of the Great Spirits, 
Will commune with Eagle feather 
In the land beyond the sunset. 
Years have passed and left the traces 
Of the Sioux and the Dakotas, 
Westward they have .iourneyed farther. 
And their tribes are growing smaller. 
Their hunting grounds are now rich corn 

fields 
For the white man's plow and reaper; 
And their cabins dot the prairie. 
And they cut away the cedars. 
Frighten all the elk and bison 
From Nebraska's fair prairies. 
Years swept by. the pale-face settlers 
On the prairies of Nebraska, 
On the swiftly flowing South Loup, 
Built their cabins on the North Loup. 
Hunted on the Niobrara. 
Built their cabins on the Muddy, 



Near the place where Eagle Feather. 
The young chief of the Daliotas, 
Met his fate by the Paduchas. 
Came the pale-face, walking slowly, 
Thinking of the growing city 
They were building on the Muddy. 
For many men had come together. 
Brought their wives and children with 

them. 
To populate fair Custer county. 
And the people of the Muddy 
Now must name this fair young city. 
For a new name searched they often, 
Oft rejected, half discouraged. 
While out walking on the Muddy 
Came he where the bow lay broken; 
Pondered he of how it came there 
All alone beside the Muddy. 
Pondered he, this pale-faced Hewitt. 
As he homeward walked more quickly. 
■ 1 have found a bow that's broken," 
Said he to his fair wife waiting, 
"An Indian bow that has been broken 
And left beside the Muddy river. 
Let us name our city for it. 
Name our city Broken Bow; 
Sent the name, it was accepted. 
Never was a name .iust like it. 
Never one half so romantic. 
Full of wonder came each stranger. 
"Such a strange name for a city." 
Said each stranger when they heard it. 
Broken Bow, in Custer county. 
Built beside the Muddy river, 
iNear beside those wondrous canons 
Where the Indian tribes had waged war, 
Where the coyote warned the red chief. 
While he dreamed of dark Winneta; 
Where he suffered death by torture. 
Died and left his Broken I3ow— 
Left to us his Broken Bow. 



Note — The funny part of the story is Mr. Hewitt prized this brolven bow 
very much as a relic, but one day the hired j;irl was cleaning np and put the 
broken bow in the fire with other rnbbish. 

The townsite was located and plat filed in Jnne, 1882, by Jesse Gandy. 
The postoffice, which was then kept by C. D. Pelham, who had a small stock 
of goods half a mile from the townsite, was moved to the new city, and hence 
Mr. Pelham enjoys the distinction of being the first merchant of Broken Bow, 
as well as its first postmaster. Wilson Hewitt had been elected county clerk 
the fall previous, and had built a sod house near the proposed townsite, which 
he occupied as his office. The county treasurer, C. T. Crawford, and the county 
superintendent, D. M. Amsberry, occasionally held forth in the same building 
in the discharge of their respective duties. Soon after the townsite was laid 
(»ut the townsite promoters provided temporary frame buildings for the county 
officers. County Clerk Hewitt and County Judge J. S. Benjamin occupied a 
room on the west side of the public square, and the county treasurer and the 
county superintendent a building on the east side. This arrangement was 
continued until the fall of 1884. when the county built a frame building large 
enough to accommodate all four of the offices. The (luestion of relocating the 
countv seat was an issue during the summer and fall, in which Broken Bow 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



193 




First Printing House in Broken Bow. (The Republican) 



and Westerville were rivals. The county seat had been located previously 
near the South Lonp, bnt the site had never been occupied, as the county 
records were always kept at the homes of the several county ofiicers. The 
victory inspired courage and many important battles have since been fought 
and wnm by a combined effort of its citizens. The only change in county offi- 
cers up to this time was the election of Dr. K. C. Talbot as treasurer to suc- 
ceed C. T. Crawford, in the fall of 1883. One of the first houses built was a 
sod building by R. H. Miller, on the corner where the Broken Bow State Bank 
now stands, which was used for the family residence and also for a printing 
office. Mr. Miller established the first newspaper of the town, The Custer 
County Republican. The first issue of the Republican was June 29, 1882. The 
paper is still published in the city, and not only claims the distinction of 
being the first newspaper published at Broken Bow, but of being the oldest 
paper in the county. The present editor and publisher bought the paper of 
Mr. Miiler March 3, 1887. 

During the summer of 1882 the following families located in the new town 
and engaged in business: Jesse, James P. and A. W. Gandy, J. S. Kirkpat- 
rick, C. W. West, J. H. Fleming, T. E. Wheeler & Co., G. W. Trefren, C. T 
Crawford, C. D. Pelham, J. L. Oxford and R. H. Miller. J. P. Gandy built a 




MR. THOKP, Miller. 



E. GSCHWIND, Policeyudge. 





F. E. TA\LOR, Pliotograplier. 



N. T. G.VDD, Attorney. 





I. A. RENEAU, Abstracter. 



S. P. GROAT. 





^•-v< wm 



DR. C. DAY. 



REV. G. BOOMER, 
Pastor ("hristiau Church. 



106 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



log house in which he kept a few goods and accommodated the traveling pub- 
lic with meals and lodging until a hotel was erected. J. H. Fleming built the 
first hotel on the corner now occupied by the Grand Central. As the lumber 
and all building material had to be freighted from Kearney by teams it was a 
tedious task to build. Bv August Mr. Fleming had the Broken Bow hotel, a 






.-%^.^ 








Residence of I. A. Reneau, Broken Bow. 

two-story structure, nearW completed to accommodate the public, and they 
had frequently to put up with scanty fare for lack of teams with which to 
freight the necessary provisions, but as Mrs. Fleming was a most excellent 
cook she made the best of what she had and all were satisfied. Frequently 
a team would be sent twenty-five miles to purchase butter, and would return 
with only a few pounds. J. H. West was the proprietor of the first di-ug 
store, and G. W. Trefren established a law office, being followed soon by J. S. 
Kirkpatrick, who is now a member of the Nebraska Sui)reme Gourt Commis- 
sion. Mrs. T. E. Wheeler & Co. put in the first stock of general merchandise 
in October, 1882. Mrs. Wheeler had come from Aurora in August and con- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 19 

tractcd with the townsite company to build a store room to lease to her in 
consideration of bringing in a stock of goods. She freighted the goods from 
Grand Island by way of Loup City and Westerville. That winter Mr. and Mrs. 
Wheeler lived in the back part of the store room, with only a carpet for a 
partition. C. T. Crawford built and occupied his house as a residence, res- 
taurant and treasurer's oflfice the same fall. J. L. Oxford, one of the county 
commissioners, built the first feed barn, just east of the present site of the 
Grand Central hotel, near where Mr. Lee's barn now stands. Jesse Gandy put 
in the first butcher shop that summer, and bought his first beef from Judge 
Benjamin, who lived on a homestead adjoining tow^n on the north. The first 
school was taught by Mrs. M. E. Lewis in a sod house. 

With the spring of 1883 the population had more than trebled. Frank 
Crable added a lumber yard, a much-needed branch of business. H. G. Rogers, 
the silent partner of T. E. Wheeler & Co., located here, bringing with him an 
additional stock of dry goods valued at |10,000. He built a new store building 
in which to accommodate his goods, and Mrs. T. E. Wheeler & Co. also 
added a line of hardware. Miss Litta Mengle put in a stock of millinery and 
associated with her Miss Laura Morrison as dressmaker. Both have since 
married, but each is still engaged in the same business. Marcus Reyner added 
the second drug store, and in October of the same year L. H. J'ewett estab- 
lished the Custer County Bank, which was the first bank in town, with S. H. 
Buruham of Lincoln as president, and Mr. Jewett as cashier. Silas A. Hol- 
comb, subsequently governor of the state, and at present a member of the 
Supreme Court, located in the town that season and engaged in the practice 
of law. S. C. Beebe, publisher of the Custer County Leader, moved his paper 
from Westerville to Broken Bow in the spring of 1883, and continued to pub- 
lish it until June, 1888, when the plant was sold to the Central Nebraska 
Bank. R, H. Miller succeeded Mr. Beebe as editor. 

The first church was built by the Methodists in 1883. It was the first 
brick building in town and is now occupied by Dr. C. L. Mullins as a sanita- 
rium. During this year the townsite was enlarged by additions made by J. P. 
and A. W. Gandy, and the sale of town lots to prospective residents became 
brisk. The students of Blackstone were increased by two that winter, James 
Ledwich, who engaged in the law and real estate business, and who is one 
of the prominent attorneys of the county at this time, and C. J. Elliott, who 
came from Illinois, returning to that state after a few years. Up to this time 
the town had been witliout a practicing physician. The only one in the 
vicinity was Dr. R. C. Talbot, who lived some eight miles away on a home- 
stead, and who protested against practicing medicine. Dr. Wyman Hull 
appeared on the scene and Dr. Talbot proposed to him that if he would locate 



AND SHORT SKI^TCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



109 



TJ^ 



10 



!> 




oA- 



\ 






Old Marble Top Hotel in 1886, with Dr. Hull and his favorite Ponies in front. Location now 
occupied by the Realty Block. 



in town he would turn over all his practice to hinu The inducement was snffi- 
cient, and Dr. Hull at once secured a sod house that J. P. Gandv had built and 
moved his family to I'roken Bow. The doctor did not prov(^ a drawinji; card 
as a physician, and soon titted up rooms in his house and eniiJiged in the 
hoi el business. As rains were quite frecpient in the earlv days, his .uuests were 
frequently disturbed in their slumbers by the roof leaking. To remedy this 
annoyance the doctor covered the house with a heavy coating of cement, 
which gave his hostelry the name of "The Marble Top." Mrs. Hull and daugh- 
ter were fine cooks and good entertainers, while the doctor was a splendid 
hustler for business, and they soon built up one of the best paying businesses 
in the town and the Marble Top became a household word. 

In 1S84 the population of Broken Bow largely increased and the demand 
for both residence and business houses caused a number of buildings to be 
built. L. l.avender and W. D. Garlock, brick makers, put in two yards and 



200 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



manufactured enough to supply the demand. The Oommereial hotel was built 
that season by J. I*. (Jandy and A. W. Gaudy. 1). M. Amsberiy and (1. W. 
Knnyon built the three brick store rooms on the north side of the ]>ublic 
square. The Custer County Bank building, now occupied by James Ledwich 
as a law office, was also built that rear. A brick schoolhouse in the southeast- 




Soutli Side School Buildiiiitr, Broken Bow. 



ern i)art of toAvn. and two dwelling houses by Isaac Merchant and Steve 
Chaple were built in the fall, and the frame l)uildings put u]) were numerous. 
With the influx of 1884 came H. M. Sullivan, now district judge, A. R. 
Humphry, who was subsequently commissioner of public lands and buildings, 
and Fred G. Waite, a brilliant young lawyer from Chicago. This season 
County Treasurer Talbot and County Superintendent Amsberry moved their 
families to town and each put up a residence. Of the new enterprises started 
in 1884, the i)rincii)al were: Holland & McDonald, hardware and inqilements; 
the Broken Bow Times, bv Trefren «& Meseraull; Kloman «& Arnold, bank; 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



201 



Moore & Wright, real estate. The viUage was incorporated that spring and the 
first officers appointed were Isaac Merchant, president; J. S. Kirkpatrick, Jesse 
Gandy and D. M. Amsberry, trustees, and E. P. Campbell, city attorney. The 
first officers elected were: Isaac Merchant, U. A. Graham, D. M. Amsberry 
and J. S. Kirkpatrick, trustees; H. M. Sullivan, attoruey; E. P. Campbell, 
clerk. 




Baptist Church, Broken Bow. 



In 1886 the town received another substantial lift that came as a sur- 
prise by the arrival of R. O. Phillips, president of the Lincoln Townsite Com- 
pany. He bought a half section of land adjoining the town on the north, at 
big figures, and it resulted in corner lots going sky high. This was soon fol- 
lowed by the B. & M. surveyors up the Muddy valley, who included Broken 
Bow in their line of survey. Not only townsite speculators and business men 
rushed in to secure desirable town property, but within a few mouths home- 
steaders had filed on all the desirable farming land in the vicinity. Among 
those who preceded the locomotive, or came soon after its arrival in that 
year, were: Freisheimer & Haeberle, druggists; S. B. Thompson & House, 
and B. S. Lilly, real estate agents; C. B. Hayes, boots and shoes; J. C. Bowen, 
grocer; Hans Dierks, lumber; Bogue & Sherwood, lumber; the Chicago Lum- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBKASKA. 



203 



her Company; W. H. Cliiie, jj^eneral merchandise; W. J. Woods, fnrnitnrc; 
Wilde & Squires, hardware; S. B. Frost, restaurant; S. A. Barstow, contractor 
and builder; Edwards & Emil. hlacksniiths and wagon makers; C. A. Thum, 
clothing-; J. H. Inman, agent for the Lincoln Townsite Company. Th(' rail- 
road addition was surveyed and put on the market and a numb(M' of new 
buildings erected or commenced on the new addition, including a number of 
residences as A\ell as business buildings. On the old townsite was built the 




First Train into Broken Bow, Aug. -Iti, l»g6. 



Pacific hotel and (Jraham Bros, store, which has since become the property 
of Mrs. T E. Wheeler, and is known as the Grand Central hotel, one of the 
best equipped and best conducted hostelries in central Nebraska. The B & 
M. railroad let no time go to waste after the survey was made, and on August 
26, 1886, the road was completed to Broken Bow and the first locomotive 
made its appearance in Custer county's rapidly growing cai)ital. C. E. Wilkin- 



204 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



son of Lincoln was the first station agent and telegraph operator, and after- 
wards served as mayor of the city. In the latter part of this year O. P. 
Perley, a capitalist of Maine, located here and invested a large sum of money 
in the Custer County Bank. On the 15th of February, 1886, it was organized 
as the First National Bank, with S. H. Burnham, president; L. H. Jewett, 
cashier, and O. P. Perley, assistant cashier. The following year the Central 
Nebraska Bank was established, with O. J. Collman, president, and J. H. In- 
man. cashier. The North Side Opera block, the Inman hotel, the bank build- 




Burlington Hotel, Broken Bow. 

ing and a number of smaller buildings for both business and residence ])ur- 
poses, were erected on the Lincoln Townsite Company's addition, including 
the large flouring mill by G. W. Frey, now owned and operated by S. J. Lon- 
ergan, and the large planing mill of S. A. Barstow. In this year were 
established the additional business enterprises of T. M. & J. W. Salisbury, 
dry goods; Thompson, Wilson & Drake, dry goods; Ryerson & Leslie, books 
and stationery; H. Walton, drugs, and the Custer County block was built by R. 
C. Talbot, C W. Trefren and D. M. Amsberry; also an opera house by Trefren 
and Hewitt. The growth of the city continued gradually until 1894, many 
substantial buildings being erected, among which we may mention the Union 
block, by Taylor Flick, H. Walton and M. Reyner; the Realty block, the In- 
man and Globe hotels, Walton's and Blackman's barns, Morrison & Gaudy's 
and W. C. Luce's feed mills, the Baptist, United Brethren, Presbyterian, 
Catholic, Christian and Episcopal churches, the court house, two brick school 
houses, the postoffice, the I. O. O. F. building. The water works plant was 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



205 



put in under the supervision of C. A. Weeks by a local company. The Bank 
of Commerce was established in 1889, with C. J. Stevens, president, and F. M. 
Kiiblee cashier. 

In 1888 the town had outgrown the rank of a village, and it was organ- 
ized as a city of the second class. The first officers were: O. P. Perley, 
mayor; B. S. Lilly, J. L. Cobb, S. A. Barstow, Hans Dierks, councilman; E. P. 
Campbell, city clerk; H. M. Sullivan, city attorney. In 1894, owing to a severe 
drought and a financial panic, the population of the city decreased fully one- 




Residence of N. Lee, east of Broken Bow. Mr. Lee has been a very 
successful farmer and is one of the early settlers of the county- 
third, and several of the business houses suspended the year following. The 
number included Kloman & Arnold's bank, the Central Nebraska National 
Bank, Barstow's planing mill, Wm. H. Cline, D. S. Lohr, Graham Bros, and 
many others. Since 1895 the population has been gradually increasing, and 
several business firms have been added. The population in 1890 had reached 
over 1,600, and in 1894 it was estimated at 1,800. In 1895 the number did not 
exceed 1,100. By the census of 1900 the population was 1,375, and it is now 
estimated at 1,600. 

Among the prominent business firms now in the city are the Broken Bow 
State Bank, the Farmers' Bank, which was established in 1890. with E. W. 
Clawson, president, and J. A. Harris, cashier; the Bank of Commerce, Wilson 
& Drake, merchants; J. C. Bowen, grocer; Grand Central, Commercial and 
Globe hotels; Walton, Parmenter, Globe, Lee's, Wantz's and Thompson's 
barns, John & Knerr, general merchandise; Ryerson & Sons, grocers; Peale's 



206 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




F. E. Taylor, Photographer. 

Cash CTi'ocery. Hairv Day & Co., general mercliaiulisc; W. S. Swan, giocer; 
J. W. Cook, grocer; A. A. Collom, grocer; Thoni])S()n, Kiiblcc iVc Stevens, gen- 
eral merchandise; Snyder Bros, and W. H. Penn, dry goods and clothing; M. 
Kevner's Racket Store, Mrs. I»redniore and Mrs. Thompson, milliners; O. H 



m 





y- 






,-■'■ ;~ir!'^"'->'* • C-.aUdJI 



Duffont of David Meeks 



Mevis, dry goods; I'ockliackcr's book store, C. !>. Hayes, boots and shoes; 
J. G. Haeberle, Ed McComas and K. W. Wilkinson, druggists; Fred Rinne, E, 
L. Bunch, H. M. Brownell, M. Scanlan and Ed. Maloy, restaurants; A. E. 
Anderson, F. W. Hayes, jewelers; Tierney Bros., Fred Maulick, Peter Simon 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



207 




XuiLh Side School Building, Broken Bow. 

son, meat markets; I. A. Reuean, Willis Cadwell, J. G. Brenizer and W. li. 
Eastham, real estate dealers; George Willing, D. W. Thompson, hardware 
merchants; G. W. Apple, harness, buggies and hardware; W. J. Woods, furni- 
ture and hardware; C. W. Martin, George Willing, D. W. Thompson, farm 
implements; I. D. Glaze, marble works; N. Gleim, tailor; Joseph Largey, W. 
E. Rucker, pool rooms; Dr. C. L. Mullins, hospital; R. C. and W. E. Talbot. 
Clinton Day, C. Pickett, C. W. Hakes, Pennington and H. Potter, physicians 
and surgeons; Beacon, Chief and Republican, printing offices; A. R. Humph 
rey, C. L. Gutterson, L. E. Kirkpatrick, J. B. Smith, N. T. Gadd, E. G. Schwind. 
James Ledwich, Cameron & Reese, C. H. Holcomb, Moore & Beal, A. Morgan. 
County Judge J. A. Armour, District Judge H. M. Sullivan, and J. J. Snyder, 
attorneys at law; John Johnson, John Klebb, blacksmiths and wagon makers; 
John Delane, S. M. Dorris, blacksmiths; Harry Bangs, F. E. Taylor, pho 
tographers. 

The city has a school population of over (H)0 and a most excellent high 
school, of which J. E. Adamson is superintendent. It has also an excellent 
telephone system and water works. 



208 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



^IjiiDftug iif lM)n ^ein)^n£^m\. 



When Broken Bow was yoiiger than it now is, much trouble was occa- 
sioned by stock running at large in the streets, and as a consequence of ill 
feeling engendered thereby, one man lost his life, while another got a term 
in the penitentiary, although he was afterwards pardoned and is now filling 
an oflHce of public trust in a neighboring county. It appears, however, that 
using a gun came quite natural to members of that family, as the following 
incident will show: 

Harry, a nephew, found John Sanderson's horses trespassing, captured 
them and started for Broken Bow on a load of hay, leading the horses behind. 
Sanderson met him on the outskirts of the town and attempted to take the 
horses away from the young man, when Harry drew a 22 calibre revolver and 
commenced blazing away at him. Sanderson fell over, apparently dead, and 
Harry, horror-stricken at what he had done, ran his horses and load of hay into 
town, rushed into the sheriff's office and gave himself up as a murderer. In the 
midst of the excitement occasioned by this dramatic episode, Sanderson ar- 
rived on the scene and said: "See, here, young man; if you ever do that again, 
and I find it out, I'll slap your face." It appeared that Harry had aimed at 
Sanderson's head, but the latter had thrown up his arm, warding off the bul- 
let, which glanced and struck him in the mouth, doing but little damage. 
Harry had a trial, but was acquitted. 



W2 nDiii (ErDSit flje (Eiutfer (Emmfy XtuB. 



"You have now crossed the Custer county line; prepare to meet your God," 
shouts the brakey at the top of his voice, flinging open the door of a car on 
the western bound passenger train on the B. Sc M. as it slows up at Mason 
City. 

It is the spring of 1887. Custer county has a pretty tough reputation, 
and many good ])eop]e baclv east consider coming out here equivalent to com- 
mitting suicide, and advise their friends who are foolhardy enough to make 
the venture to draw up their wills before leaving home. While the brakey 
was, of course, only joking, there was an old man in this car who took it in 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 209 

dead earnest. He shortly turned to a traveling companion and said: "I be- 
lieve you are from Custer county?" 

''Yep." 

This individual was rather tall, of uncertain age, with shifty blue eyes, 
very thin, sandy beard and carroty hair. He wore a broad-brimmed hat and 
high top boots, and was masticating a huge quid of tobacco. 

''Well, my friend, perhaps you can tell me something about the people of 
your county. I am going to Broken Bow, and am very anxious to know what 
sort of folks I am likely to meet there. I have heard some pretty tough 
stories about them," 

•'You're right, sir; they're a hard lot up hyar, and the sheriff is the ring- 
leader of the hull outfit. Why, sir, he oughter be in the pen this very minute." 

"What has he done?" 

"Better ask what he hain't done. Well, I don't mind tellin' ye a few of 
his exploits. He uster live out on Spring creek and got so handy with a gun 
that the fellers up and 'lected him sheriff. He had a sheep ranch, and the 
cattle men didn't like it, because ye know that sheep and cattle don't git along 
any better together than cattle men and settlers. One time a big fellow 
moved onto Penn's claim and told him he was goin' to contest it. They say 
Penn told him there was plenty more vacant land, and he was a poor man, 
and not able to go to law about it, and that if he w'ould go with him to some 
of the neighbors he would show him that he was holdin' the claim accordin' 
to law. Now, ye see how^ smooth and fair-talkin' he kin be when it suits him." 

"Well, I can't see where Penn was to blame for keeping a sheep ranch, 
nor whj' he should not resent the intrusion of the big man on his claim." 

"I see, sir, that ye don't catch onto the situation. Ye see the cattle men 
had fenced in about fifteen square miles for a pasture so as not to have to 
herd their stock, and Penn and a few' other fellers had the cheek to go right 
into that pasture and take up claims. As soon as they did that a lot of other 
fellers follered suit, and the big pasture was soon busted up, as them settlers 
went out and cut about fifteen miles of wire fence in one single night." 

"I see; but what about the big man and Penn?'' 

"Well, the big feller he wouldn't hear to it, but swore he was goin' to 
stay, anyway. Then Penn he up and said: 'Say, mister, I see you have a 
watch; I want you to set it with mine. It is just half past 11 o'clock. Now 
you go back to your wagon and don't speak to me again. I want my dinner 
and I suppose you want yours, and if you are on this place at ten minutes 
after 1 o'clock, in just five minutes after that either you or me will be in. h — .' 
You see Penn intended to shoot the contest off with the feller. That's a way 
he has of settlin' such disputes. Well, the feller he went back to his wagon. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 211 

got his Winchester and set down on the wagon tongue to wait for Penn to 
commence the shootin'. Penn went over to his sod house, wliich was located 
on the north side of a draw called Spring creek, but it hain't got no water in it 
except when it rains real hard. He got his dinner and then commenced to 
load his gun, appearin' calm like, but I guess he was hopin' all the time that the 
big feller'd get scairt and git out of thar before 1 o'clock. Well, the feller 
didn't git worth a cent, but jest kept on a-settin' thar a-watchin' Penn out of 
the corner of his eye. Penn finally come out on the prairie and set down a 
little ways from the house with his gun across his lap, just as onconcerned 
as if shootin' folks was an ever^'day occurrence." 

"Well, what effect did that have on the big fellow?" 

^'I'm ashamed ter tell ye W'hat a coward that there big feller was. Of 
course Penn acted kinder bold and that bluffed the feller, and he conchided 
that the claim wasn't wuth kickin' up a fuss about, and jest about five minutes 
before the shootin' was to open up he hitched his mules onto his wagon and 
pulled out." 

While the foregoing conversation was going on the participants did 
not notice a small, dark-eyed man sitting on the seat immediately behind 
them, who appeared to take it all in, and smiled occasionally as the dialogue 
proceeded. His companion, a lady, seemed greatly annoyed by the talk, and 
the small, black-eyed man said something in an undertone that caused her to 
arise and take a seat in another part of the car, while he settled back in his 
seat to listen to the braggart filling the old man with yarns about the bad 
people of Custer county, especially the sheriff. 

"I can't say," resumed the old man, ''but that I admire a man who is 
willing to fight to save his home." 

''Yes, that's all right; but this man Penn has bin up to lots of mean- 
ness. He got inter a quarrel with some fellers one day and one of 'em laid fer 
him with a gun, and fired two shots over his head jest to scare him. What 
does Penn do but u]) and fired straight at the feller, and would have killed him 
if it hadn't ben fer Penu's bullet goin' right inter the feller's gun barrel, 
where it lodged so tight he had ter have it bored out. Only a few days ago a 
couple of cowboys was in a little town up the line a few miles from Broken 
Bow, havin' a little fun paintin' the town, as the boys call it, and makin' 
fellers dance by shootin' at their feet, and other innocent amusements. Some 
of the citizens sent for Penn and he come up and shot 'em both from behind 
a house, never givin' 'em the ghost of a show fer their lives. The cattle men 
was so mad it would only needed some one to say, 'Come on boys,' to had a 
^ang go down from the sand hills and wipe Anselmo oft'n the map of the uni- 
verse and Penn along with it." 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EABLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 213 

"It's a wonder a man like that don't get killed." 

"Yon bet he'll get a dose some of these days. I'd do it myself if I had 
a good chance." 

"Do yon know him when yon see him? I would like to have yon point him 
out when we get to Broken Bow." 

Know him! Well I should think I did. The man that lives in Custer 
county and don't know Charlie Penn must be a tenderfoot, sure. He's mostly 
alius at the depot when the trains gits in, seein' if there's any fellers gittin' 
off there's a reward offered for, and I'll show him ter ye." 

As the train approached Ansley the young man settled back in his seat 
and prepared to enjoy his quid of tobacco. Shortly after the train pulled out 
of the last named station the little black-eyed man behind him tapped him 
on the shoulder and invited him to take a seat facing his own. Looking him 
square in the eye, the black-eyed man said: 

"I take it from your conversation that you live in Custer county." 

"Yep," replied the red-headed man; shifting his quid to the opposite side 
of his mouth. 

"Now, young man, you have been making some very serious charges 
against the sheriff of your county, in regard to that Anselmo affair, and they 
don't tally with the sworn statements of men on the ground at the time." 

"I don't care what they swore to; I was thar at the time and knoAv he 
didn't even call on 'em ter halt." 

"Supposing Penn was to come into this car now, would you shoot him?" 

"Wouldn't like any better fun." 

The black-eyed man looked at him sharply for a moment. 

"Young man, you are talking to Penn, and you know you are a consum- 
mate liar." Then whipping out a huge 44 revolver he continued: "You are 
a cowardly, dirty, low-lived puppy. Now, you pusillanimous, lantern-jawed, 
big-mouthed wind-bag, pull out your gun and shoot away. I will fill your hide 
so full of holes that it wouldn't make a good sieve and throw your worthless 
carcass out of the car window." 

The braggart swallowed his quid of tobacco with a gulp, dropped his jaw 
and sat in his seat limp and speechless, and as white as a ghost. 

"Come, you knock-kneed son of a gun, are you going to shoot?" roared 
the sheriff. 

The fellow recovered his power of speech suflSciently to gasp a faint "N-u- 
u-o sir." 

"Then get out of this car; we can dispense with your company." 

He needed no second invitation, and as his coat tails disappeared through 
the door leading into the smoker, Penn gave one of his low. guttural laughs. 



214 PIONEER HISTORY OP CUSTER COUNTY 

ind the passengers who had gathered around expecting to see some fun, re- 
sumed their seats. The old man reached out his hand and toolc Penn's, say- 
ing: '']\Ir. Penn. I am glad to make your acquaintance. I have heard you are 
a pretty tough man, but I guess you are not as bad as I have been led to be- 
lieve." 

"Ha! ha! ha!" replied Penn, with his peculiar guttural laugh: "I thought 
1 would just scare that fellow, and I guess I did it all right." 



IDB^tentlk. 



(By Miss Floy Leech.) 



In 1871) Mr. Westervelt took the land upon which Westerville now stands 
as a homestead, built his house, a little soddy, on the west bank of Clear 
creek. His was the first building in Westerville. The next year, 1880, Sen- 
eca, a small village, was moved on Mr. Westervelt's land and the name was 
changed to Westerville in honor of the owner. Mr. Westervelt also edited a 
paper, the Western Echo, which some years afterwand was sold to parties 
who lived in Ansley, and the name was changed to the Anslej' Clvonicle. A 
son of Mr. Westervelt is now editor of the Scott's Bluffs Republican, pub- 
lished at Scotts Bluffs, Nebraska. The county seat of Scotts Bluffs county, 
Gering, was also named after one of the early settlers of Westerville, who 
moved to that count}-. Fifteen years ago Westerville Avas the principal town 
in Custer county, as it was situated in the eastern part where most of the 
settlements were made, and it had a considerable trade. Clear creek flows 
along the north and east sides, but why it was named "Clear" creek I never 
knew, for it has been mudd}' ever since I saw it, some sixteen years aga 
On the north bank of Clear creek is the flouring mill, operated by water 
power. Several years ago, in the '80s, we had very heavy rain storms during 
the spring, dangerously raising Clear creek. The water worked its way under 
the banks and caused great pieces of earth to cave into the water. The people 
feared that some of the buildings nearest the bank would be undermined. The 
flouring mill stood so close to the water that men had to work night and day 
to save it. One man standing on the bank happened to look behind him 
and saw the ground cracking all around; he had scarcely time to escape when 
that pcu'tion upon which he had stood dropped into the water below. 

The first frame church in the county was built at Westerville. The lum- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAULY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 215 



ber was Iraiisported t'loin (Jiaiid Island, a distance of eighty miles. Our 
nearest railroad stations in those days wimc (liand Island and Kearney. The 
first church bell in Custer (■( unty was Inniii in the Methodist church at this 
place. It had been there but a short tinu' when, as it proclaimed liberty to the 
world at Westerville, its fate was like that of the old Liberty bell. A few 




MISS FLOY LEECH. 

years ago it was taken from Westerville by some one who wanted it as a relic, 
but the people caused it to be promptly returned. It now reposes in the par- 
sonage yard, filled with soil in which during the summer season beautiful 
blossoms grow to delight the eye of the passer by, and to cheer the heart of 
the pastor when he is weary. It was not made to be unseen and waste its 
sweetness on the desert air. Its mission is somewhat changed from that for 
which its founders intended it, but it is still serving a useful purpose, and 
who shall say that it was made in vain? A new bell took its place in the 
belfry long ago. Rev. Brooks was the first regular minister at Westerville, 
and Elder Hale, of the Orleans district, in western Nebraska, was one of our 
early preachers. 

The reason Westerville is not the county seat of Custer county, we are 
told, is because the first settlers were not willing to make a sacrifice of about 
one hundred dollars deemed necessary to secure this distinction, and while 
Westerville slumbered and felt secure. Broken Bow worked and soon won the 
prize. This was mistake number one for Westerville. 

Two countv fairs were held here, one in 1883 and the other in 1884. I 



216 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

attended the one in 1884, and remember seeing two things which interested 
me very much; a turtle that had been taken from Clear creek and a fawn 
that was captured a few miles north of here. The turtle was nearly as large 
as a washtub in which it was exhibited. A number of the people of Broken 
Bow attended the fair in 1884. The question: ''Where shall the county fair 
be held next year?" was submitted to the people, and when the votes were 
counted it was found that Westerville had lost the privilege of having it, 
which she never regained. Mistake number two for Westerville. 

In Westerville's most prosperous days we had several dry goods and gro- 
cery stores, a large hardware store over which was a public hall, three hotels, 
a flouring mill, two blacksmith shops, a cutlery store, a good public library, 
a bank that carried on quite an extensive business, printing oflflces, a drug 
store, and a good school and church. We could boast of two doctors. Water- 
bury and Morris. J. A. Armour, now county judge, was our lawyer. We are 
proud to say that we have never had a licensed saloon in our town. In the 
summer of 1880, as the Fourth of July drew near, the people of Westerville 
were desirous of celebrating the day. Mr. Westervelt had a red cedar log 
which he said he would give for a liberty pole, but it was not long enough, 
and Mr. Baker was patriotic enough to go to the cedar canons and get an- 
other. The two were spliced together and raised so that ''Old Glory" waved 
above the people upon that eventful day. The pole now stands in the middle 
of the main street, which was named Loraine, in honor of Mrs. Westervelt. 
The flag rope has been lost or taken within the past few years, so that since 
then no flag has been flung to the breeze from the old liberty pole during late 
celebrations of our natal day. But not only flags have fluttered from the top 
of this pole, for the people were awakened one morning following hallowe'en, 
and wondered why one of the neighbor's geese had been hung up there until 
it was limp and dead. 

During the winter of 1880 a lady went visiting. Her hostess had nothing 
in the house to cook for dinner, until one of the boys caught a rabbit, and 
some wheat was ground in the coifee mill. With stewed rabbit and bread 
made of the ground wheat a very good dinner was prepared. Some of the 
people were compelled to go to bed while their children were at school in 
order to save fuel, which could not be gotten. Those who were here during 
that winter know something of the hardships of pioneer life. Still, the hardy 
pioneers say that after all, such good will prevailed among the settlers that it 
was really an enjoyable time. When the weather finally became better a man 
living north of here went to Grand Island for a load of flour. He never 
reached Westerville with it, for the people went to meet him and bought it all 
except a little which he kept for himself. Thus these people made sure of 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



217 



something? to eat. At one of the early weddinjis the bride's mother wanted to 
api>ear stylish; so she informed her husband that he must present the bride 
to the bridegroom. When the critical moment came, after being reminded of 
his duty two or three times by his better half, he took the daughter by the 
hand, crossed the room, and, swinging towards the young man the arm that 




View of the Westerville Mill and Mill Pond. 



held her hand, said: "Here." This done, he considered that he had done 
the thing up in style, and left the room, and when search was made for him 
he was found in front of his store with his hands full of crackers which he 
had promised to the winner of a wrestling match which he was watching be- 
tween two urchins. 

We have always had a good school, although we have never had but the 
one room. The first term was taught in an empty building in the western part 
of the town. Then a frame school house w^as built on a hillside in the south- 
western part of town, where school has since been conducted. Of late years 
we have studied all of the branches that are taken in the high school at 
Broken Bow. One of the Westerville pupils, L. L. Thomas, became quite a 
noted evangelist. Many of the students have become teachers and are among 
the best in the county. The first teacher's institute in Custer county was 
held at Westerville in 1881. There was no place for the meeting, but permis- 
sion was obtained to use Blowers' warehouse for that purpose. The ware- 
house w^as afterwards converted into a livery barn. Before the next teacher's 
institute was held the school house was built and they used that. They also 
held the meetings there the two following vears. 



218 PIONEEB HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



The mill pond is a source of much pleasure to our citizens, affording 
skating in the winter and boating in the summer. 

When the B. & M. railroad went through to the Black Hills a majority 
of the people of Westerville moved to Ansley. a station eight miles south 
which furnished better business advantages. Thus Westerville was left a 
little country village. Traveling men used to call it the "Sleeping Beauty." 
Yet it is hardly asleep. Another name has been proposed from the number of 
flowers that spring spontaneously from its fertile soil. 



^unfing WxVt\ ^DraB0. 



Dan Haskell. 



A correspondent of the Chicago Drovers' Journal says: "I have seen the 
stag hunt in Scotland and the steeple chase in Ireland, but compared with a 
wild horse hunt on the Haskell & Co. ranch in Nebraska, these are tame 
sports." 

In the summer of 1884 we had a herd of 600 horses on our ranch. One 
evening about sundown we were driving them across a small bridge, when 
they became frightened and commenced to run. This raised a dense cloud of 
dust, which added to the fright of the animals, causing them to stampede, 
breaking through a fence on either side and killing five of them, the balance of 
the herd flying in every direction in to the hills. During the night they became 
mixed up with a herd of wild horses of which there were large numbers roaming 
over this country at that time. One would naturally suppose that a wild horse 
could outstrip his domesticated brother in a long race, but in separating our 
stampeded herd from the wild ones we discovered that such is not the case. 
The domesticated horse, being better bred, proved to have superior powers of 
endurance. As the wild horse has long ago disappeared from Custer county, a 
short description of his habits and the manner of hunting may be interesting 
to the reader. 

Wild horses. roamed over the prairie in small bands, each led by a stallion, 
who was the head of the family. The first business of the hunter was to shoot 
these band stallions, which would cause the mares and colts of that family to 
unite themselves with another band. By repeating the operation of shooting 
the leading stallions (piite a bunch of horses would soon be gathered together, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EABLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



219 



the object boin«i- to chase as many down at once as possible. Having gone 
thns far, the work of the hunter has just begun. When pursued, we found 
that wild horses always traveled in a circle, and that they would eventually 
get back to the place from which they started. After getting a bunch of the 
required size together by shooting the stallions as described, our next move 





.J. D. HASKELL. 



J. D. Haskell's first residence on South Loup. 



was to establish camps along the course we concluded the animals would run, 
with a man at each station to take care of the saddle horse, which were used 
in relays. Two men, well mounted, then started the herd of wild horses and 
crowded them to their utmost limit, giving them time to neither eat nor rest 
until they were completely run down and would permit themselves to be cor- 
raled. It usually took about five days of constant motion to accomplish this, 
although sometimes a herd would succumb in two or three days. ^Vhenever 
we reached a relay camp our saddle horses were changed, thus keeping the 
wild horses on the constant move day and night. The long race generally 
broke the old ones down so that they were seldom of any use afterwards, but 
the young ones seemed little the worse for their chase after a few days' rest. 

Occasionally we would start a bunch led by an old stallion that would, 
when pushed hard, start out and run for fifty miles in one direction, taking 
us away from our camps altogether and compelling us often to ride a hundred 
miles without a change of horses. At intervals in the chase one or more of 
the wild horses would drop back, not able to keep up with the flying herd. 



220 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

These were always roped, thrown and hobbled, so that we could return and 
pret them after the main bunch had been run down. We had a one-armed man 
on our ranch by the name of Jim Hunnell, who could rope and hobble a wild 
horse with the best of them. With one end of his lariat tied to the horn of 
his saddle, he would take the bridle rein in his teeth, and, holding the coil and 
loop both in his one hand, would catch and throw his horse every time, putting 
on the hobbles by using his hand and teeth. Those who have tried to rope 
a wild horse and hobble him with two good hands will appreciate the work done 
by Jim Hunnell. The most favorable time to chase wild horses was when 
there was snow on the ground, as we could then follow the trail much easier 
during the night, ^^'e carried small, dark lanterns with us, to be used when 
it would be impossible to follow the trail without them. We would sometimes 
be caught by a blizzard in the middle of a chase and be obliged to give up and 
get back to the camp as best he could. In February, 1883, my brother and 
myself started out to catch a small bunch of eleven horses headed by a fine 
roan stallion. One of the neighbors had been catching the colts for two sea- 
sons. We had six good saddle horses with us, expecting to locate them at 
two different points along the course we thought the wild horses would take; 
but when we reached our friend's house he said he had chased the bunch sev- 
eral times and they took a circle only of ten or twelve miles, so we left our 
extra horses at his place and set out with but one feed of corn and a lunch 
in our pockets. We soon located the herd, and away they went like the wind, 
the fine old roan stallion in the lead. When the old fellow found out that 
some one Avas after him that meant business he struck off on a tangent at the 
top of his speed in a southwesterly direction. Late in the afternoon we struck 
the North Platte valley northwest of Ogallala. The roan then changed his 
course to northwest, and traveled at such a killing gait that had it not been 
for the snow on the ground we would hardly have been able to follow him. 
As we neared the B. & M. railroad the snow became quite deep and after the 
darkness came on we lighted our lanterns and followed the trail without any 
trouble. At about 3 o'clock in the morning we concluded to stop and give our 
saddle horses a rest, as they had been ridden hard all day and night, except 
when we had stopped to feed them the corn and to eat our lunch. We scraped 
a little round place in the snow, which was twelve inches deep, and lay down 
on the frozen ground together, holding our horses by the bridle reins. We 
were so cold that our teeth chattered together, while our horses stood and 
shivered. As soon as da^iight appeared we arose from our downy bed and 
rode up to the top of a high bluff, from which we discerned the wild horses 
huddled up in a small valley with their heads down, taking a much-needed 
rest. Hearing the bark of a dog, we proceeded in that direction and came to 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 221 



the ranch of Carl Gross, southwest of Lakeside, where we remained that day 
and the following night. We were both snow blind. Early the next morning 
we took up the trail of the horses and followed them back to the place from 
which they had started. T\'e procured fresh saddle horses, set out after them 
again, and two days later had the entire bunch in a corral at our home ranch 
While in pursuit of this roan band, we sighted another herd of fourteen, 
headed by a fine brown liorse, and next month gave them chase and had them 
corraled in two days. This was our last horse hunt. 

Wild horses have almost entirely disappeared from Nebraska, although 
it is said there are still a few small bands in the vicinity of Blue river. The 
writer has seen hundreds of them on Tallin Table in Ctister county, and it 
was a grand sight to see the fat, sleek fellows watering at the pools which 
stood there as late as the month of June, each leader herding his family to 
keep it from mixing with other bands. 



To show how wild Custer cottnty was in the early days we give the follow- 
ing incident: We drove up to a settler's house to make a picture of it, with 
the family group in front. Before we coitld get the camera focused, one of the 
children, a lad of seven or eight years, made a break for the tall grass that 
was growing about three feet high in the vicinity, and hid. The balance of the 
family hunted for him abotit a quarter of an hour while we stood patiently 
awaiting the rotind-tip in the boiling hot sun. They were unsuccessful in their 
search, and returned to have the group taken withotit him. Just as we were 
about ready to make the exposure, away went another of the boys, which 
resulted in another hunt and another failure. Then the old man got mad and 
said: "Take what you've got." I secured six of the children and the two 
old people. Two of them got away for sure, and how many more I did not stop 
to figure out, but left that for the parents when they counted noses. 



1tyni:I;ing Df Kiti Dai^ in 1884. 



CHAPTER I. 

The story which leads up to the lynching of Kid Wade, the horsethief, 
opens at the Custer county fair, which is in progress at Broken Bow in the 
fall of 1883. It is the last day of the show and the Ptilliam race horse has 



222 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



made such a fine reeoid that the owner is besieged by sports all anxious .o 
procure the wonderful animal. Mr. Pnlliam finally sells the horse to John 
Carney. On the same day a gentlemanly-appearing young man stopped at 
Pulliam's place at West Union for dinner. He was a pretty smooth talker and 
soon led Pulliam's son, Ed, into a discussion of the good points of his fathei's 
horses, especially the racer. When he left the stranger told young Pulliam 
that he was going to Jack Koath's, about six miles distant, to collect some 
money that Koath owed him for some ponies. It was discovered later that 




Jack Boatlfs first Residence in West Union Tp. 

this story was a fabrication. The stranger had been at Roath's the ])revious 
night, and had sold one pony to an employe of Roath's, receiving pay for the 
same, but that was all. Instead he went to James Abernathy's. 

The young man returned to Pulliam's on Sunday following and gave his 
name as Sam Gordon, representing that he was by profession a bronco buster. 
The boys on the place, with a number from neighboring ranches, who were 
there at the time, led out a particularly wild and vicious bronco and invited 
the stranger to give an exhibition of his prowess. Nothing loath, (xordon 
vaulted into the saddle and shouted: "Let 'er go!" and go she did — straight 
up into the air as if shot from a catapault, her head down between her fore- 
legs and her back arched in the shape of a rainbow. While poised in midair 
she performed a series of movements too complicated for description, reversed 
end, and came down with her four feet in a bunch, jarring the earth and 
nearlv knocking the teeth out of her rider. Without stopping to take a 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OP EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 223 



breathing spell this acrobatic feat was repeated again and again, each time 
embellished with a variety of contortions, the plucky rider keeping his saddle 
and rising in the stirrups to break the terrific shock that terminated each de- 
scent. Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, the bronco, finding that she had met 
her master, desisted and stood still, panting, quivering in every muscle, and 
covered with foam, while Gordon sat in the saddle as cool as a cucumber 
and smiling like a morning in May. The young man was the recipient of 
lavish compliments from the witnesses of this exhibition of skill, which was 
considered a great accomplishment in those days. Gordon's own horse was 
a fairly good animal, although somewhat ridden down, and he struck a trade 
with the boys by which he came into possession of the bucking mare and |25 
to boot. The next morning he rode up the river about six miles, where he 
sold the pony to Perry Lytle, and, taking his saddle, said he was going to wait 
at the Walworth bridge for the stage, and he was not again seen in the 
vicinity. 

The day after this episode Mr. Pulliam missed a fine saddle horse named 
Frank, which had been taken out of a stall in his stable, where he had been 
in the habit of keeping the race horse previously referred to. He came to 
the conclusion that the thief had supposed he was getting the racer, but that 
animal had been taken home by his new owner, John Carney. It was then 
discovered that one of Will Sargent's ponies was missing, and Jack Roath 
reported that he had lost a good work team and a pony, making in all five 
horses that had mysteriously disappeared from the neighborhood. 

Roath followed the trail of the thief who had taken his horses to the 
Xorth Loup river and there lost it. He went on up the river as far as North- 
up's ranch, and thence to Ainsworth, eighty-five miles from home. At Ains- 
worth he learned that the rough country along the Niobrara river was infested 
with, horse and cattle thiejips who had their hiding places in the dense pine 
timber that grew along that stream and in the adjacent canons. Roath con- 
tinued his search to Long Pine, where he was told by Ed. Burch that Pulliam 
and Elmer Sweet, from W>st Union, had been there a short time before and 
had gone on to O'Neill. Burch accompanied Roath to the latter city, where 
they found Pulliam and Sweet. 

In the meantime two farmers, Barney Crowell and John Grimet, haa 
found the trail of the stolen horses on the north side of the North Loup river, 
near where Roath had lost it, and they followed it until they struck the Cal- 
amus, where they came suddenly upon the thief. In this predicament they 
discovered that they were unarmed, and there was nothing for them to do 
but to return home, leaving the outlaw unmolested. 

Pulliam, Sweet and Roath, after resting themselves and horses at O'Neill, 



224 PIONEER HISTORY OP CUSTER COUNTY 

started home. They passed the night at Swan lake, quite a large and deep 
body of water. In the morning, as they were about to resume their journey, 
they saw a boy herding a bunch of about 300 cattle, and they asked the boy 
to drive the cattle in the lake so that they could see them swim. The boy 
complied and the herd was soon in the water, where, being urged on by the 
boy and the men, they swam out, headed for the opposite shore. The wind 
was blowing quite a gale, dashing waves in the faces of the leaders, and they 
turned around to get back to land. This confused the rest of the herd and the 
whole bunch commenced to swim around in a circle. Fright was soon added 
to their bewilderment, and in a short time the scene was one which beggars 
description. The frightened and maddened animals became a rolling, surging, 
boiling mass, churning the muddy water into foam in frantic efforts to climb 
upon each other's backs to escape drowning, while their bellowings contrib- 
uted to the general pandemonium. The men looked on with a species of fasci- 
nation, riveted to the spot; then realizing that they had been the cause of 
the catastrophe, they put spurs to their horses and fled, the deafening roar 
and bellowing of the struggling brutes ringing in their ears all the way to 
their homes, but were greatly relieved soon afterward to learn that the cattle 
had come out of the lake in good shape without the loss of a single one. 

Upon their arrival home, Pulliam and Roath decided to prosecute their 
search for the man who had stolen their property. They did not care so much 
for the value of the horses as they did for the principle of the thing. The 
idea that a strip of a boy could come down from the sand hills and take five 
horses out of Custer county at his sweet will was not to be entertained for a 
moment. They immediately fitted up a wagon with provisions and other 
necessaries for a journey through the wilderness, and with several good saddle 
horses, set out once more. The first night found them at T. S. Northup's 
ranch, twelve miles west of Brewster, on the North Loup river. This ranch 
is one of the oldest and best known landmarks in that part of the country. 
Mr. Northup located in the southern part of Custer county in 1878, but soon 
afterwards moved to the ranch in Blaine county which bears his name. 

From Northup's Pulliam and Roath went up Goose creek in a north- 
westerly direction, having been joined by a farmer by the name of E. D. 
Oldham. They reached Valentine, where the sheriff informed them that the 
old man, Wade, and the two Belzador boys had passed through town a few 
days before with a small bunch of horses, and from Pulliam's description the 
sheriff thought the Sargent and Roath ponies, at least, were among them. A 
consultation was held and it was decided to keep on in pursuit of the thieves. 
Roath was sick from exposure to the weather, which had turned very cola, 
and the horse he rode left tracks of blood in the light snow that covered the 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 225 

ground. But these men were inured to hardships from a long life on the fron- 
tier, and were not to be disheartened by small diflfleulties. They left Valen- 
tine on the trail of Wade and his companions and proceeded without incident 
until they came to John Shores' ranch on the Niobrara river, about thirty-five 
miles from Valentine. Here Roath grew worse and had to lay over to recruit, 
while the other two kept up the chase as far as the Rolling Springs ranch. 
Having neither sighted nor heard of the thieves, they concluded that the chase 
was almost hopeless and retraced their steps to Shore's, where they found 
Roath much worse. Oldham was sent to Valentine for a doctor, but not beinj; 
able to pi'ocure one. he purchased some medicine and returned to Shore's, 
where he found poor Roath in a delirium, raving about horse thieves, drown- 
ing caltle and irrelevant subjects of all kinds. Pulliam thought it best to 
return and send Mrs. Roath to her husband, as it was thought he would die. 
He recovered, however, and believes to this day that his life was saved by 
the care he received from his nurse, Mrs. Shores, whose husband is now a 
retired cattle man and ex-senator, and who has a beautiful home at Valentine, 
Nebraska. 



CHAPTER n. 

It is a wild, bleak day. The thermometer registers almost zero and a 
dense bank of dark clouds in the northwest portends one of those dreaded 
storms prevalent in Nebraska known as blizzards. A covered wagon is toil- 
ing slowly along in a northwesterly direction against a heavy head wind which 
comes in fitful gusts that threaten at times to overturn it. The occupants of 
the wagon are a man and a woman, and they have traveled for several days 
through a wilderness of interminable sand hills and through intervening val- 
ley's where icy lakes obstructed their progress by compelling them to make 
large detours. It has been a scene of dreary desolation and monotony that 
establishes the claim that this part of Nebraska is a part of the Great Amer- 
ican Desert. Not a tree nor even a shrub has been seen to relieve the awful 
sameness of the scene since they left the North Loup river, and the only 
signs of life they have seen on the way have been an occasional jack rabbit 
or wolf. TMien in camp during the night the solitude has been intensified by 
the demoniacal howl of packs of hungry coyotes from the tops of the surround 
ing hills. But the scene suddenly changes and the wagon comes to a standstill 
on the brink of a canon that seems to be a barrier to their further progress. 
At the bottom of this cleft in the earth the Snake river winds in and out 
among rocks and pine trees like a thread of silver. The jagged and almost per- 
pendicular sides of the canon, rock-ribbed and seamed by the elemental war 



226 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

of a^es, are softened somewhat by pine trees which shoot ont of crevices sky- 
ward to a height in some cases of seventy-five feet. It is one of the most ro- 
mantic and picturesque landscapes in Nebraslva, and our travelers gaze up and 
down long and earnestly, not so much to admire the beauties of nature here 
bestowed with lavish liand. as to discover whether there be any means of 
gaining the opposite side of the cleft. Away to the northeast they discern 
what appears to be a road hewn out of the rock, twisting around huge 
boulders and dragging its serpentine length up the steep sides of the canon 
until it emerges on the table land on the other side. 

"Isn't this the place Orlando described to us, below the mouth of Steer 
creek, and east of the falls a few miles, Axtell?" 

"Yes, ma'am, I think it is, and I've struck a kind of a trail leadin' down 
the river, and if I am not mistaken the crossin' is about a mile from here. 
We can't get there none to soon, neither, for I think we're goin' to have a 
blizzard, and I'm not stuck on bein' caught out here in one of them things. 
When we get acrost this miserable river it won't take us long to make Shores' 
ranch." 

The reader may have guessed that the lady passenger in the covered 
wagon is none other than Mrs. Veschta Roath on her long and tedious journey 
to the bedside of her sick husband. What suifering, what privation, will a 
noble woman not make for the man she loves? 

''Gee- whiz! did yon ever see sich a road as that?" exclaims the driver, 
as they come in sight of the crossing. ''Whoa, Jane! I'll have to tie all the 
wheels, or the wagon'll git to the bottom afore the horses. Mrs. Koath, it's 
a good twenty rod to the bottom of this canon; d'ye think you can hang on 
while we're fallin' down?" 

"I'll try, John. I know you are a good driver and I'm sure we ought to 
get down safeh' if the ranchmen can haul logs up the same road out of 
the canon." 

"Then let 'er go," answers John, as they tilt over the edge of the precipice 
mto the narrow groove that winds into the depths of the defile. Mrs. Roath 
grasps hold of the bows of the wagon cover, while the driver braces his feet 
rigainst the end board to prevent himself from being precipitated onto the 
haunches of his team. 

"AVhoa, there, Jane! Steady now. Bill! By Jimminy, this beats all the 
roads I ever see, and if any thief ever steals a horse of mine and escapes into 
this country he needn't think I'll ever foller him." 

They reach the bottom without accident, and have no difficulty in finding 
the ford, which they cross and begin the ascent of the other side. They 
accomplish the climb in safety and emerge upon the level table land above. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 227 

The snow is fallinj; thick and fast and is driven against the faces of the 
travelers with a stinging force that makes them wince, A discussion ensues 
as to the advisability of pursuing the journey, but as their team is almost ex- 
hausted and night is at hand, they seek the kindly shelter of a solitary hay- 
stack that is seen a short distance away and prepare to pass the niglit as 
best they can. The horses are unhitched and attended to, and a very passable 
meal is prepared from an ample store of cooked victuals in the wagon. Hav- 
ing an abundant supply of robes and blankets, they wrap themselves up and 
pass the night in tolerable comfort. They made an early start in the moruinjj. 
the storm having subsided, but the traveling being heav^' through the snow 
they did not reach Shores' until 5 o'clock in the evening. Mr, Roath had 
taken a turn for the better, after thirteen days of raving, A doctor had 
been procured before the arrival of Mrs, Roath, and the patient was on the 
fair way to recovery. In a few weeks he was able to get up, when they 
returned to their home in Custer county. 



CHAPTER III. 

In January, 1884, following the events related in the preceding chapters, 
Pulliam and Roath had been corresponding with parties in the northern part 
of the state with a view to getting some trace of the stolen horses. Among 
the replies received was the following from a place called Cam's Bridge, in 
Brown county: 

Mr, Roath — We have two horses here which answer to the description of 
your work horses. 

(Signed) CAP. BURNHAM, Vigilance Committee. 

Roath proceeded to the place named and was informed by Burnham that 
the bay horse had been sold by Kid Wade to Frank Ellison, who lived at 
Keya Paha, and that the black mare had been sold to Henry Brockman. The 
vigilantes had taken both of the horses and had possession of them at the 
time the letter was written to Roath, but they had subse(iuently been replev- 
ined by Ellison and Brockman. Roath was induced to have Brockman ar- 
rested as an acomplice of Kid Wade, who, thinking he was about to be hanged 
as a horsethief, compromised by delivering up the horse and paying |35 to help 
pay the expenses of the vigilantes. They then went up to Keya Paha and 
got Roath's bay horse, and after leaving there thought it would be a good 
plan to return and hang Ellison and see if he would not tell where Kid Wade 
was secreted. But Ellison got wind of their intention and made his escape. 
An exciting race ensued, with the vigilantes close at Ellison's heels, but he 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 229 

having shoes on his horse, was able to ride down the bed of a frozen creek, 
take a short cut and get away from his pursuers. During his stay in Brown 
county Eoath spent ten days with this band of eighteen vigilantes trying to 
run down Kid Wade and his accomplices. A description of their method of 
working may be of interest to the reader who did not live here when "Judge 
Lynch" had a monopoly of the hanging industry. 

When the vigilantes found a man whom they suspected of knowing any- 
thing of the gang they wquld hang him up until he began to choke, then let 
him down and question him. If he proved stubborn they gave him another 
lift and were not always particular to let him down in time. Upon one occa- 
sion they got hold of a man named Allen who was suspected of being pretty 
close to the thieves. They took him to a barn, adjusted the noose about his 
neck and then called upon him to tell what he knew about Kid Wade. He 
protested that he knew nothing about Kid Wade, whereupon they kicked out 
the box from under him and let him dangle in the air about the proper time. 
When they let him down he fell to the ground limp and apparently lifeless. 
He was laid alongside the barn by his executioners, who seemed to think it 
quite a joke. When they returned half an hour later to get the body they 
discovered that the corpse had fled. Allen had regained his senses during 
their absence and cleared out to prevent a second hanging. Upon another 
occasion they had con-aled in the postofflce at Cam's Bridge a very innocent 
and harmless-appearing young man of about twenty years of age, who did 
not appear to have any more fight in him than a rabbit, but who was sup- 
posed to know something about the outlaws and their haunts. How to get 
him out of the postofflce where they coiild catch him was a question. They 
sent a messenger in who told the young man that Jim Smith wanted to see 
him outside, but the youth apparently understood who wanted to see him and 
replied: ''You tell those fellows out there that they can't run any blazers 
on me; if they've got any business with me let them come inside." Upon the 
delivery of this ultimatum by the messenger the vigilantes held a consultation 
and then rushed into the postoflice in a body with their guns presented and 
cocked. In a second the leader had the muzzle of a double-barreled gun within 
six inches of the young man's body and had ordered him to throw up his 
hands. The innocent looking young man obeyed, but his right hand went up 
with a 44 Colt's revolver in it, which tickled the end of the vigilante's nose 
before he knew what had happened. 

"Now shoot if you want to," he coolly remarked, "but if you do, I'll shoot 
first." 

The two men stood glaring at each other, toying with the triggers of 
their weapons, and the room was as still as death for several minutes. Re- 



230 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



volvers clicked here and there, and word was passed around that they could 
kill him where he stood. 

''Yes, you can, but if you do you will be a set of cowards, and if you do, 
I'll get this man first." 

The situation was dramatic and promised to become tragic. The men well 
knew that they could send eighteen fatal bullets into the young man's body, 
but they also knew that before one of them reached him a bullet from his 
revolver would penetrate the heart of their leader. The vigilantes were in a 
most embarrassing predicament, and much as they disliked it, had to back 
out of the room leaving the young man master of the situation. The next day 
Roath was expressing his admiration for the boy's pluck, which somewhat 
nettled the vigilantes, and they gave him to understand that he had better 
not refer to the subject again in their presence. That afternoon they met 
an old gray-headed farmer whom they suspected of being able to give some 
of the information they sought, and they inquired of him if he knew where 
Jim Smith was. 

"If you want Jim Smith, why in h — don't you go and find him?" 

Eighteen guns were instantly leveled at the old man and several bullets 
whizzed so closely past his head that he w.as almost scared to death. The 
vigilantes sent two men to a place about three miles distant to get a rope, 
which they were to take to a clump of trees not far distant. While waiting 
for the men to return with the rope, the sheriff of Brown county drove up. 
He was a neighbor of the old man and he prevailed upon the vigilantes to 
let him go. The vigilantes finally found Jim Smith, took him to a convenient 
place, adjusted the rope and then said: 

"Jim, we want you to tell us where Kid Wade is hiding." 

"Don't know anything about Kid Wade," growled Jim. 

"Up with him, boys; we haven't got any time to fool away with horse 
thieves. When I count three, pull. One — two — " 

"Hold on, fellers!" cries Smith. "I'll tell if you don't hang me, and if 
you'll promise never to tell who gave the Kid away." 

''All right; but be careful to tell nothing but the truth, or you may not 
get off so easy the next time we catch you." 

''Well, I don't like the Kid very well, anyhow. You'll find him at Lemars, 
Iowa." 

Three men were sent to Lemars to have Wade arrested, the vigilantes 
meanwhile continuing their work of running down others of the band in 
Brown county. Sheriff John Ennis of Lemars, and his deputy. Kirk Elder, 
who now reside at Anselmo, Custer county, Nebraska, made the arrest. When 
apprehended Wade had in his possession Pulliam's saddle horse, Frank. The 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 231 

prisoner was turned over to a Nebraska sheriff, but in some mysterious way 
he fell into the hands of the vifjilantes. who took him to Brush Creek and 
kept him there ten days and plied him with questions. They gave him to 
understand that he would be delivered over to the authorities, while at the 
same time they had a canon, and even the tree, picked out to hang him on. 

The people of Long Pine had raised quite a large sum of money to help 
rid the country of outlaws, and the vigilantes concluded to take Wade to that 
city and exhibit him. Hundreds of people came in to see the show and Wade 
appeared to enjoy the notoriety he had achieved immensely. He would see 
some young fellow approaching to look at him and would ask the guard his 
name. When the young man came up the Kid would say: "Hello, Sam; how 
are you?" Of course Sam would respond to his name, wondering how the 
Kid came to know it. 

"Say, Sam, where have you been the past year? Don't know me? Why, 
of course you do. Don't you remember the time we stole that bunch of ponies 
down on the Platte river three years ago?" 

The fellow would grow indignant and deny all knowledge of the Kid or 
his pony deal. This was great fun for the Kid, who always insisted that he 
could not be mistaken. He came very near getting his head shot off one day 
by a young man who could not see any fun in that kind of a joke. 

At this place he turned Pnlliam's horse, Frank, over to Roath, to be taken 
back to his owner, telling him to take good care of him, as he might be down 
after him again. He manifested great affection for this animal, and before 
Roath left gave an exhibition of a number of tricks that he had taught old 
Frank. It seemed almost incredible that he could have taught the horse so 
much in the short space of five months. 

From Long Pine Wade was taken to Bassett, a small station on the Elk- 
horn railroad, and on the night of February 8, 1884, he was left in an old 
store building in charge of two guards. At midnight a band of masked men 
appeared, took him away from the guards and hanged him to a telegraph pole. 
Word went out that Wade had been hanged by some of his pals to keep him 
from squealing on them. Be that as it may, nobody seemed interested in 
the matter sufficiently to make an investigation. Thus ended the career of 
one of the coolest and most daring outlaws that ever infested central Ne- 
braska. His father had been hanged but a few months before for stealing 
horses and his body shot full of holes by vigilantes, but the charge of horse 
stealing was stoutly denied by the friends of the old man, and that they took 
a belt from his body containing |1.000. 

While the vigilantes were organized to protect property, there is no doubt 
but many innocent men suffered at their hands. Kit Murphy and his son 



232 PIONEEB HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

of Custer county went up into the northern part of the state about that time 
and were both hanged as cattle thieves. Thej^ had allowed a bunch of cattle 
to be put in their corral to be branded. The cattle had been stolen by some 
one, but whether by the Murphys or some one else, was never determined, 
but the Murphys paid the penalty of the crime, guilty or innocent. 



25i:)ucila$0 ®riitis €DrDn0fjip< 



W. D. Hall. 



It has long been desired that a history of Custer county should be written. 
To me has fallen the lot of gathering that part which relates to Douglass 
(jrove. I could only wish that some more able pen than mine had been se- 
lected to draw the picture of the early hardships, the trials, the hopes and 
the achievements of the people in this township — the first and oldest settle- 
ment in Custer county. 

In 1873 the unorganized territory west of Valley and Sherman counties 
was marked on the maps of Nebraska as Kountz county. Some time in this 
year Mr. H. H. Travis of Loup City was appointed by Colonel Noteware of the 
state immigration bureau as immigration agent for this territory. 

The first claim taken in what is now Custer county was what is known 
as Oak Grove, and entered in the winter of 1873 by Edward Douglass, who 
died the following summer at Loup City. For him the town was named. L. 
R. Dowse followed as the next settler in the winter of 1873; W. H. Comstock 
settled here in the spring of 1874 with D. J. Caswell, Sam Wagoner, B. D. 
Allen, James Oxford, E. D. Eubank, C. A. Hale, A. E. Denis and Thomas 
Darnell. A. A. Higgins came in the spring of 1875 and brought with him a 
family of twelve, which greatly added to the population of the little settle- 
ment. Mr. Higgins was a patriarch in Jesus, a staunch upholder of the teach- 
ings of Wesley, and it was under his roof that Elder Lemin, the pioneer of 
Methodism in Nebraska, preached and held the first quarterly conference in 
the county. 

Frank Ingram bought from the heirs of Edward Douglass the Oak Grove 
claim in 1875. Oak Grove is a beautiful place. The country around is rough 
and rugged in the extreme, and known to all the old settlers on the Loup. 

One tree bore for years the name, ''William Cody, 1869," cut deep into its 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



233 



shaggy bark, showing that "Buffalo Bill" had camped here in some of his hunt- 
ing or scouting trips. Opposite the grove were three large pine trees standing 
four miles back from the river. Two of them were cut in the winter of 1873. 
taken to Loup City and sawed into boards, which were taken to Omaha and 
Lincoln as an advertisement for Kouutz county pioneers. In ISSO the last 





W. D. HALL. 



M. VANDENBERG. 



of the three pine trees had disappeared. They had stood for years, faithful 
sentinels in the dreary sand hills — a guide for the weary hunter to his camp. 
All the early settlers miss that last lone pine, which could be seen for miles 
on either side of the river. None but a tenderfoot could have destroyed the 
last remaining relic of early times. 

The first cattle ranch in this section was established by Nimrod Caple 
and Manly, his son, in 1875, on the head of Spring creek, where bursts forth 
from the side of a steep hill one of the largest and purest springs in the 
country. Mr. Caple sold out his cattle and left in 1876. In his departure many 
a settler rejoiced, for his cattle were always doing some damage to crops. Mr. 
Caple always offered to pay, but invariably carried a fifty-dollar bill, which 
none of his neighbors could ever "bust." He always, in this way, got his 
cattle, but the farmer seldom got any pay. Manly Caple was a chapter in 
himself — a physical athlete, daring and generous, but with an insatiable pas- 
sion for gambling. He was always getting into trouble, and always got out by 
getting some one else in. He was afterwards mixed up in the Olive-Ketchum 



234 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



feud and report says finally died at the end of a rope for horse stealing in 
the far west. The Caples were succeeded by Elisha Taylor and Charles Clay- 
ton, who in turn gave place to W. S. Wescott, and what has since been known 
as the Wescott & Gibbons ranch. 

In the fall of 1874 the settlers entitled to vote had to go to Ord, but in 
1875 were granted a voting place for judicial purposes as a part of Valley 
county. The first postoffice established in the county was named for Edward 
Douglass, and Calvin Douglass was appointed postmaster. He failed to qual- 
ify, and W. H. Com stock was appointed, thus becoming the first postmaster, 
and holding the office for over a quarter of a century, or until the past year. 
A. B. Crouch was the first mail carrier, and made weekly trips to Arcadia 
on foot, fording the river. 

With their inherent love of liberty and intelligence, these early settlers, 
with the aid of Oscar Babcock. superintendent of Valley county, organized 
school district No. 1 in the fall of 1875, with Mrs. E. D. Eubank as teacher. 
The first sermon was by E. D. Eubank; the first marriage, A. E. Denis and 
Miss Josie Eubank; the first birth, Alice Dowsee; the first justice of the peace, 
W. H. Comstock, and before him the first lawsuit. The first assessment of 
taxes was also made by Mr, Comstock, whose territory embraced what is at 
present Sargent, West Union, Lillian, Douglass Grove, Myrtle, Westerville 
and part of Garfield. During the winter of 1875 a bill was introduced in the 
state Legislature and passed both houses bounding a new county west of 
Valley, twenty-four miles square, to be named in honor of the governor. Gov- 
ernor Garber vetoed this bill, but for two years the county was known as 
Garber county. The next legislature, in 1878, bounded the present county and 
named it for the gallant Indian fighter. General Custer. 

The year 1876 was the most trying in the history of the township. Ku 
mors of Indian outbreaks kept the settlers in constant fear. It was during 
this summer that Messrs. Comstock and Wagoner, having been called to 
Omaha on a jury, saw in the "Bee" the announcement of an Indian massacre 
of the settlers in the Middle Loup valley. They left immediately for Kearney, 
over the Union Pacific, arrived at 2 o'clock p. m., and started for their home, 
walking the entire distance of eighty miles in twenty-four hours. They found 
the settlers from Victoria creek and other points for thirty miles up the 
river, except Douglass Grove, assembled on Spring creek, just back of Oak 
Grove, expecting an Indian attack. However, the Indians did not materialize, 
but what was nearly as bad was a visitation of grasshoppers which destroyed 
every growing crop. Not enough wheat was left for the spring seeding. Yet 
the people had the sand to stick it through, and the following year were re- 
warded with fine crops and a big immigration, which made good prices for 



AND SHOET SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 235 

all they had. to sell. As a result of the Indian scare, Fort Garber was built 
in the summer of 1876, a square fort with bastioned corners, of sufficient capac- 
ity to hold all the settlers. ^V well was dug for water supply. Forty stands 
of arms were obtained from the f^overnment, and a company of state militia 
orjyanized called the Garber County Ref?ulars, with W. H. Comstock as cap- 
tain. 

Uncle Sam Wagoner w^on fame as a hunter. To his reliable rifle and 
unerring aim the first settlers own many thanks. 

Douglass Grove received its full share of the pioneer inflow until 1884, 
when practically all government land was occupied. The first settler in Dry 
vallej' was James Wagoner, who settled on what is now the Len Town place 
in 1878. Frank Muthic took the next claim, followed by N. W. Alberts, Dewitt 
Konklin, W. Bener, J. W. Scott, John Campbell, the Amos family, Brumbaugh 
family, Joe Armour, J. Roth, John Jems, the Twombly family, Worley broth- 
ers, Mr. Mattox, Swanson brothers, C. Gollier, A. Kohn, W. Newcomb, L. L. 
Wood, James Boggs, Mr. Bowers and others who have made Dry valley a 
neighborhood of permanence and thrift. 

The first purely stock or ranch interests, aside from the Caple, were 
those of M. E. Yandenberg, who located at the mouth of Sand Creek in 1878, 
where he now lives; the Payne ranch in Dry valley, in 1880, the property since 
1884 of S. L. Glover & Sons; the Charley Hill ranch, 1880, on Wagoner creek, 
occupied in 1883 by Anthony & Warren, but now a part of the farms of 
numerous settlers. 

Not to make too lengthy this paper, and yet do justice to those who 
helped to make the history of Douglass Grove in its first decade, we mention 
the three Mickle brothers and their families, the Glazier family, I. C. Buck, 
John Stewart, the Stevens family, Cleveland family, W. Hudson, Dewitt Corn- 
stock, W. S. House, H. H. Mcintosh, H. G. Stockes^ J. A. Kenyon, G. E. Whit- 
fomb, W. D. Hall, J. H. Walton, W. C. Caddish and W. P. Higgins, who twice 
has represented the county in the state Legislature. 

As trials and hardships are the common heritage of all pioneers, there 
is no need to go into the details of what these early suiferers experienced. One 
or two incidents will portray what all were liable to endure. In March, 1878, 
J. F. Henderson, from Harrison county, Missouri, settled on Lillian creek. 
February 27, 1879, he went into Hunter's Shanty canon to cut cedar for fuel 
and posts. He had. nearly completed his day's Avork when, in felling a twenty- 
two inch tree it turned on its stump as it fell, in such a way as to strike Mr. 
Henderson, throwing him down the steep canon side, where he struck on a 
pile of brush. His left arm was broken in two places, the left hip dislocated 
and the leg broken below the knee. In this condition, with snow on the 



236 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

ground, he laid from sundown until after sunrise the next morning, when he 
was found by his wife. Unable to move him in any way, she went for help to 
the nearest residence, that of her daughter, Mrs. James Oxford. It was noon 
when, with oxen and a wagon, they came back and the bruised and broken 




J. F. HENDERSON. 

sufferer was taken a mile to the home of James Oxford. To get help was the 
next thing, and remembering that three trappers had been at the mouth of 
Lillian creek, Mrs. Oxford started for the camp, two miles away. One man 
was there, and as she told him of the accident to her father and asked him 
to go for help to the nearest neighbor's on Victoria creek, eight miles distant, 
the trapper said: "I know how to sympathize with you, for I lost my wife 
and child in a blizzard." He started on his sixteen mile run, and came back 
the next morning with Isaac and Temp Merchant. Temp was dispatched for 
the nearest doctor, having to go to Loup City, fifty miles down the river. Dr. 
Hawkins reached the Oxford home Sunday morning, the fourth day after the 
accident, under the influence of liquor, and incompetent to do the surgical 
work required. Running his hand hastily over the broken leg, he said: ''Your 
leg is all right, but the arm will have to be amputated." With knife and 
saw he cut the arm square off, took two or three stitches from skin to skin 
across the freshly cut flesh, and said it was all that was necessary for him to 
do. Mr. Merchant insisted that the leg was broken and must be dressed. 
With reluctance the doctor roughly tried to put the broken bones in place 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 237 



and bound them with splints, then left for his home. Seven months Mr. Hen- 
derson lay in that pioneer home, unable to ^ei from his bed, when he was 
moved to Mrs. Comstoek's home. Every settler from Lonp City to Victoria 
creek vied with each other in rendering kindness to the sufferer. Connected 
with this incident is the pathetic death of little Daisy Oxford, the pet grand- 
daughter of Mr. Henderson. A slender child of eighteen months, she sat 
at his bedside on the Saturday before the doctor came; rocking forward, she. 
in some way, caught the bail of the tea kettle, sitting on the edge of the stove, 
and the contents of boiling water was poured over her head and hands. The 
little sufferer, under the care of Mrs. Comstock, who had been sent for, lived 
nearly a w^eek. Mr. Eubank preached her funeral sermon, and then remained 
four days, expecting to be called to preach the funeral of Mr. Henderson. 
Mr. Henderson is still a resident of Douglass Grrove, intelligent, companion- 
able and with a heart thankful beyond expression to the old settlers who 
iilled the office of good Samaritan to him in those days. Another incident that 
speaks of the privations of the pioneer's life and love for his family, was the 
death of Arnett on the Bayhoffer place. Christmas was near, and no money 
to get the loved ones a present. The father took his gun, in which the breech 
pin was secured with a piece of wire, and went to the cornfield, thinking to 
get chickens to sell and buy Christmas presents. They found him next day 
with the breech pin blown through his head. 

As a township, Douglass Grove has exhibited a remarkable stability. 
While Custer county shows a census loss of nearly 2,000 inhabitants, Douglass 
Grove shows a gain of forty-nine. Probably eighty per cent, of her settlers 
yet hold their original claims. Strictly an agricultural community, her citizens 
have constructed an irrigation ditch at an expense of |20,000. A farmer's 
club, organized in 1890, has on its list of members over 100 names, sustains 
monthly club meetings, and has held ten annual institutes. A temperance 
society, organized in the '80's, still holds monthly literary exercises. There are 
good churches and abundant common school privileges, a hall for public gath- 
erings, a good roller flouring mill, a route has been mapped for rural mail 
delivery, w^hich will reach some 125 families, or over one-half the population 
in the township. Telephone connections reach all county points. 

It is fitting that in this brief history special mention be made of the wives 
of the earliest settlers. Brave and uncomplaining, upon them fell most heav- 
ily the unpleasant part of pioneer life. The preparation of food with scant 
supply of cooking utensils, and sometimes even without a stove. Silent mould- 
ers of the future destiny of our township, they are worthy the homage of gen- 
erations yet to come. To Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Comstock the writer is beholden 
for much of the data used in this paper. Identified with the settlement from 



238 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

the first, they have preserved newspaper clippings and incidents relating to 
those early days. Having laid her own little ones away to rest in their in- 
fancy, the mother love in woman's nature has expanded to grasp the suffering 
and sorrow of the entire community, and none know Mrs. Comstock but to 
bless her for her kindly ministrations in hours of pain and destitution. Worthy 
is she of the encomium of Master to Mary: ''She hath done what she could." 
The advent of the railroad has changed the old conditions that required 
a round trip of IGO miles to the nearest railroad town, and Douglass Grove, 
profiting by past experience, enters on the second quarter century of her ex- 
istence strong in the assurance of ever-increasing prosperity. 



Jinninxis jof ^intgla^s ©r^iiB. 



W. H. Comstock. 



In company with D. J. Caswell I started from Moingona, Boone county, 
Iowa, in March^ 1874. In due course of time we arrived at Loup City, the 
metropolis of Sherman county, and which consisted of a log hotel kept by 
C. Y. Rossiter, and a general store of which Frank Ingram was the owner 
and proprietor. About this time Frank had some friends who had come to 
make him a visit. His family consisted of himself, wife, one child and a 
hired man and hired girl. The house was small and sleeping rooms scarce. 
But Frank's mind was active and he soon had a plan to help himself out of 
the difficulty and provide sleeping apartments for the visitors without se- 
riously inconveniencing the family. He went to the room of the hired man 
and told him that it would be necessary for him to vacate his bed, as he had 
company that would have to be taken care of. He then went to the room of 
the hired girl, woke her up and laid the situation before her. He said either 
her bed or the hired man's must be given up for the company. He didn't like 
to make one of them sit up all night, but he thought that as the hired man 
and the hired girl had been keeping company, and intended to get married, 
anyway, they might just as well get married then and there and thus settle 
the whole difficulty about the beds. This seemed to meet with the approval 
of the two parties most interested, and Mr. Ingram, being the county judge, 
immediately issued a license and married them on the spot. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IX NEBRASKA. 



239 



At Loup City we became acquainted w\t\\ B, D. Allen and Sherman 
Wagner. We all started in April l-ST-t, and drove to Douglass (irove. where 
we selected our homesteads and commenced to imjjrove tliem, hut just as 
the ears of corn began to form, the grasshoppers ai)peared and in a few liours 
completely ate u]) every green thing. Uncle Dave liad some tobacco phmts in 
the edge of a draw wiiicli was very choice, and anticijiated the pleasure of 





WM. COMSTOCK. 



MBS. WM. COMSTOCK. 



smoking the weed of his own raising the coming winter. But, alas I his hopes 
were blasted. He covered the plants with anything he could get, but the 
festive hoppers eat holes in the covering and chewed Uncle Dave's tobacco as 
long as it lasted. The settlers were left entirely destitute, not having produced 
a thing for the support of themselves and families during the winter. The 
government at this time liad troops stationed at a point about nine miles 
above Ord, the county seat of Valley county, and it had been decided to erect 
more commodious quarters for the soldiers. There was plenty of sand and 
gravel and work was commenced on the garrison. The walls were constructed 
of red cedar, of which there was an abundance in the canons not far distant. 
A sawmill was put in operation, and teams were hired to haul the logs and 
lumber, as well as all other material needed in constructing the fort. The 
settlers flocked in from all directions and all were given employment by the 
government. Allen and myself and Caswell went over. Allen got a job work- 
ing in the mill, while Caswell and I hauled gravel from the pit and assisted 
on the walls of the building. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 241 

In the spring" of 1885 a man by tlie name of Eberlin, with his wife and 
a companion by tlie name of Hancock, ntarted on a hiintinjj trip np the Middle 
Loup river. When about eight miles above our settlement their attention 
was called to the peculiar antics of a horseman on the east side of the river. 
He was ridin.y at a furious pace, coatless and hatless, with his long hair 
streaming in the wind behind him as he flew along. The hunting party was 
badly frightened and immediately started back to the settlement, arriving 
there with their team covered with foam. As soon as they were able to tell 
a rational story, they reported that they had seen Indians on the east side 
of the river. Every settler was at once notified, a council held, and a decision 
reached to proceed at once to make preparations for the protection of the 
settlement against an attack from the red men. ^'olunteers were called for 
to go to Fort HartsutT and notify Captain Munson, the commander, and ask 
him to send two or three regiments of soldiers down. D. B. Allen offered to 
perform this duty, while four or five others volunteered to go up the river 
to investigate the story told by the hunters. All were instructed to ride all 
night and report at 8 o'clock the next morning. It was laughable to see Ben 
Allen as he started for the fort, and a photograph of him taken at that time 
would be a most valuable contribution to this history. His dress suit con- 
sisted of an old pair of blue overalls, with a heavy fringe around the bot- 
tom, he was barefooted, and had on no other clothing except a striped shirt 
and an old straw^ hat. He was mounted, bareback, upon an old horse belong- 
ing to Mr. Higgins. About eight o'clock the next morning the people met to 
consult, and hear the report of the scouts when they should return. Soon a 
solitary horseman was seen coming from the direction of the river, and four 
or five others from the north. 

The sing:le horseman proved to be the valiant Ben, and before he was 
fairly within speaking distance he shouted: "It's all right; General Mun- 
son said if we were killed by Indians to let him know and he would come 
over and give them h !" The other party now rode into camp and re- 
ported that they were unable to discover any Indians, but they had found 
out that the horseman who, had frightened the hunters was a half-crazy fellow 
who lived on the east side of the river. This news was a great relief to the 
settlers, but they nevertheless decided to build a fort where all could congre- 
gate in case of any sudden attack from the savages. The site selected for the 
fort was in the center of the northwest quarter of section fifteen. A descrip- 
tion of this wonderful fortification will be found in the history of Douglass 
Grove township. It was afterwards named Fort Disappointment, for the rea- 
son that no Indians ever appeared in that vicinity. 



242 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



%u'^ ]3ark. 



J. L. H. Kniaht. Written 1887. 



Lee's Park is a beautiful valley lying one-half in Custer county and one- 
half in Valley county. It also lies midway between tlie Middle Loup and 
Clear creek valleys. Surrounded by hills and slightly rolling, it contains over 
4,000 acres of the choicest land. The soil is a dark loam, and very fertile; 
capable of withstanding very dry weather, as there is no underlying hardpan. 

Lee's Park has always furnished more than its share of farm products 
for exhibition at the state fair, and especially was this the case in the fall of 
1890 when the drouth injured the crops so very much all over the state. At 
the Custer county corn show in the winter of 1891-2 Lee's Park furnished the 
premium corn. In the early days, when parties from the more southern coun- 
ties crossed this valley, it w-as supposed to contain but a few hundred acres 
of not very good land. It was know^n that the central part of the valley w^as 
a school section, and so but little was thought of its settlement so far from 
markets. In September, 1874, however, James Lee, seeing this little valley 
located on a central quarter section of land, and made it his home. The fol- 
lowing summer he entered the quarter on which he lived as a pre-emption, 
and also the adjoining quarter as a tree claim under the old law which re- 
quired forty acres of trees planted. Although parties often passed through 
the park, no one seemed inclined to locate. Mr. Lee kept bachelor's hall in a 
sod house, and began to subdue the native soil. He evidently succeeded, as 
his first wheat crop of one acre testified. He obtained from it forty bushels 
of wheat, which is supposed to be the largest jield ever raised in the park. 

The following spring he continued his operations on the farm, and plant- 
ed some trees on his timber claim, but the grasshoppers again found him, and 
ate up his corn crop, and also all of his little trees. During these years, as 
hunters and adventurers passed through, they occasionally stopped at the 
bachelor's sod mansion, and the fact of his being the only settler, and work- 
ing with his trees on his timber claim, caused the travelers to name the valley 
"Lee's Park." Here then this settler dwelt, year after year, in solitude — 
farming, planting trees, and doing his sewing, cooking and washing. He 
tried to get others to locate, but no one volunteered. Nearly four years had 
passed by, and his courage, which had remained firm for years, began to wane, 
and he at last decided to leave his beautiful half section of land. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



243 



About this time, however, Frank Wright offered to locate in the park, 
providing Mr. Lee surrendered to him his ])re-empliou, on which was his house 
and well. This Mr. Lee agreed to do, and soon after, Mr. Wright started to 
claim his new possessions. On his way lie fell in with some land lookers who 
seemed to be headed for Lee's Park, so they went together, and on arriving at 




NELSON POTTER, 
An old Settler of Lee's Park. 

Mr, Lee's, Wright asked for the papers, which were immediately surrendered. 
Soon after, however, this Mr. Wright sold the place for |25 to F. E. Morrison. 
These land lookers were William and Joseph Murray, who, in February, 1878, 
took claims in the park, and their families arrived in May the same year. 
Soon after this, in March, Benjamin Knight located in the park, and returned 
to his Wisconsin home to claim the hand of his "best girl," and together they 
journeyed to their frontier home. From this time on, settlers flocked in rap- 
idly, and James Lee, no longer solitary, decided not to leave. His pre-emp- 
tion right, how^ever, being gone, he proceeded to the extreme end of the park 
and filed a 160-acre piece as a homestead, on the bank of the little stream 
afterward known as "Lee's creek." 

In July Messrs. Overton, Chandler True, Jay Hamlin, George Hamlin, Jr., 
E. Stephens and William Vanalstine settled. In August, T. J. Johnson and 
Amos Smith; then followed Parish Freeman and his son Charles; William 
Hall, Joseph Peacock and James Thompson. In 1879 Edward Knight, Philip 
Lynch, James Wisely, N. Mehrhoff, Nelson Potter, Sam Minchell, and Mr. 



244 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

Abel located here. In 1880, Thomas, David and Archie Tod, F, E. Morrison, 
and James Bradford, also Thomas, John and Sam Berridge, who afterwards 
commenced the importation of Enf^lish shire horses, under the firm name of 
Berrid^e Bros. Thev made three importations, among which were some very 
choice specimens of the breed. In 1881, J. L. H. Knight settled permanently 
here with his father, Edward Knight, and as this youngster was a lover of fine 
stock, he early sought an opportunity to obtain some thoroughbred hogs. His 
first purchase was in 1885, and was a Poland-China pig, which cost him f30. 
Two years after this he purchased three head of shorthorn cattle, and from 
that time he continued to show his belief in good blood by frequent purchases. 
He purchased 520 acres of his father and brother in the southern end of the 
park and named it "Pleasant Hill Stock Farm,-' where he had choice speci- 
mens of Shorthorn cattle, Poland-China hogs, and Plymouth rock fowls. Al- 
though not confining himself exclusively to hogs, still he made the raising of 
fine pigs a specialty, and was often spoken of as the "hog man." 

In 1883, the fine section of school land in Lee's Park was put upon the 
market, and two brothers, C. A. and W. A. Forbes, energetic young men, were 
fortunate enough to obtain 160 acres each. At the same time, J. L. H. Knight 
purchased the remaining 320 acres for W. S. Delano, who was then in the 
signal service, and who was one of Mr. Knight's classmates in the Michigan 
agricultural college. In 1886, his term of enlistment expired, and very willing 
was he to leave the service of Uncle Sam to engage in farming. He at once 
commenced raising seeds for D. M. Ferry & Co., of Detroit, Michigan. Hie 
two brothers, F. E. Delano and Milton Delano, shortly afterwards entered 
into partnership with him, under the firm name of Delano Bros. 

The early settlers of Lee's Park underwent many hardships and priva- 
tions. Corn stalks and willows were the main reliance in those days for fuel. 
The mail service at first was not very good; for a while their postoflQce was at 
Loup City, a distance of twenty-two miles; afterwards there was an oftice es- 
tablished at Westcott, which was twelve miles distant, but shortly it was ar- 
ranged to have an office on Clear creek, four miles west of the park. This 
was quickly followed in the fall of 1878 or 79, with Uncle Sam's locating one 
in Lee's Park. 

During the fall of 1878, the first district school meeting was held in Lee's 
Park, which was then organized as Joint District No. 11, of Custer and Val- 
ley counties. This meeting was held at the house of Parish Freeman, and it 
was decided to build a sod schoolhouse, which was completed the following 
spring. During the summer of 1878, a Sunday school was organized with Ben- 
jamin Knight as superintendent. It was held from house to house, and occa- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 245 



sionally Father Cook, a Baptist minister liviiiij on the Middle Lonp, canw^ over 
and preached. After the sclioollionse was built, the t^unday school and jtreach- 
ing was held there. This sod sclioollionse was occupied for years, until it was 
declared unsafe, when a sod building was hired of F. E. Morrison, to hold 
school in. During these years, the school district being large, and in two 
counties, caused much disagreement. Some wished it divided, while others 
wished it to remain as it was. Finally the south end was allowed to go off 
with District No. 01. This, however, did not settle the matter, and school 
meeting after school meeting was called, which finally resulted, in 18S0, in 
dividing the district on the county line. The following summer, these dis- 
tricts built new frame schoolhonses. one in Custer county, and one in Valley 
county. 

In April, 1884, the town of Lee Park was laid out in Custer county on 
the tow'n line, and the same year, the Lilly and Houder addition to Lee Park 
was laid out, adjoining the original town, and in Valley county, with the post- 
office in Valley county. Then came quite a little boom for the new town. A 
general merchandise store was built by Lilly & Houder, to which the post- 
office was removed; then followed a blacksmith shop, a hotel, a wagon shop, 
and a feed stable. Ttiis little town was progressing finely when the B. & M. 
railroad concluded to outdo the U. P. railroad, and so built past Loup City, 
the terminus of the LT. P. railroad, and stopped at Arcadia, five miles from 
Lee's Park. The little town held out for a while, but the railroad town of 
Arcadia took away its vitality, and after some struggles, the towm of Lee's 
Park was no more. All the buildings w^ere torn down or removed, and an at- 
tempt was made to take away even the postoffice. The attempt was nearly, or 
quite successful, as the office was actually removed to Arcadia, but prompt 
action was taken by patrons of the office, and an order came for its return, 
only a day after its removal. The postoffice w\as afterwards removed from 
Valley county across the line into Custer county, where it still remains. The 
fact that originally the postoffice was in Valley county, and is now^ in Custer 
county, has caused some confusion as to the real location of Lee's Park, some 
thinking it in Valley, and some in Custer county. The name of the town and 
postoffice has also been confused with the name of the valley. Originally the 
postoffice had the same name as the valley, but Jay Hamlin, while postmas- 
ter, had the name of the office changed to Lee Park, consequently the name 
of the postoffice is Lee Park, and the name of the Valley is Lee's Park. 

At the time of the laying out of the town, a cemetery association was 
formed, and five acres of land was purchased from W. S. Delano, and laid out 
as the Lee's Park cemetery. Trees were soon set out and cared for, and in 



246 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

consequence the cemetery is quite a fine one at this time. The following year 
the Catholic cemetery was laid out one-half mile north of Lee's Park cemetery. 
The farmers of Lee's Park are honest and industrious, and are not of the 
shifting kind. Most of the old settlers are still residing here, and seem to 
have no idea of soon changing their location. This makes it diificult to pur- 
chase a farm in Lee's Park, and when one is sold, it is at good figures. The 
farmers have organized a farmers' club in the park, which shows they are 
anxious to learn. It might be interesting in closing this narrative to remark 
that James Lee who lived here .ilone for so many years, is still residing here, 
but he is no longer a lonely bachelor, for a wife and four children cheer him 
in his home. 



Wml Mninn JBrccttici 



H. J. Shinn. 



West Union precinct is situated north of the Middle Loup river, extend- 
ing north to the county line, and in shape is an irregular triangle, its length 
being about twenty miles, and its mean width about six miles. The general 
lay of the land is undulating; the soil, as a general thing, is black, sandy loam^ 
very productive, although here and there in the Middle Loup valley, as weU 
as on the elevated land in the northwest part of the precinct, sand predom- 
inates. Not to the great extent, however, of making it non-productive. 

Almost the entire precinct is now utilized either for farming or for pas- 
turage. The settlement, growth and development of West Union precinct has 
proceeded slowly since the year 1878. During this year the first permanent 
settlers: J. K. Orvis, K. G. Carr and father, Elmer Sweet and father, C. H. 
Peters, Elias Whaley, Gil Scott, Gus Cosier and Jerry Phelps, all from Brush 
Creek, Iowa, settled in what is now the vicinity of West Union. J. R. Orvis 
and R. G. Carr located the town of West Union, each of them taking as many 
claims as they could hold under the law. These persons evidently contem- 
plated the stock business, as at that time the range was unlimited. The 
following year another flood of settlers came in, and took up quarters. T. W. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



247 



Dean, Leroy Leep, John Pfi-ehm, Sr., and a host of others, narrowing the 
range to such an extent that they decided to engage in farming and mercan- 
tile business. From this time on, there was almost a constant influx of set- 
tlers until but a short time afterwards, in 1880, we find Lewis Sutton, O. S. 





J. C. PKEDMOKE. 



MRS. J. C. PREDMORE. 



Pulliam, Jasper Wallace. M. L. Marsh and sons, J. C. Predmore, George Gar- 
rison, li. Harris, J. L. Walker and David Garrison. 

In the tail of 1879, Walter Bedwell, subsequently county treasurer of 
Custer county, made settlement seven miles west of West Union. 

The next spring, April 5th, 1880, T. J. Butcher and two of his sons, S. D. 
and G. W., and J. K. Amabel, his son-in-law, arrived at T. W. Dean's place. J. 
R. Wabel afterwards located about one and one-half miles west of the place 
of T, W. Dean. T. J. and S. D. Butcher located further up the valley near 
Gates postoffice. The same year came Fred Shoemaker, Henry Pulliam, Ly- 
man Pike, Surene Pike, Orvas Pike, Ben Greibel, A. S. Burgher, C. E. Free- 
man, J. P. Halsey, Monroe Freeman, J. L. Walker, Eli Carson, Al Darling and 
George Pence, and in 1882 came S. W. Leep and four sons, William Stalling 
and sons, W. R. Swan and sons, Herbert Richards, James Farley, Robert Far- 
ley, James Milburn, William Milburn, Dick Clifford, Fred Girding, J. C. Vose, 
T. Gill, J. H. Ullom, Charles Arndt and John Murphy, who located in the west 
end of the precinct near Milburn. Aside from the persons heretofore named, 
many other settlements were made in this precinct during the '80s, among 



248 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



them a floating population which has given way to subsequent permanent set- 
tlers. The pioneer settlers heretofore mentioned include only those who are 
known as settlers of the Middle Loup valley. 

It will be remembered that the Middle Loup valley does not include all 
the territory in the subject of tliis sketch. What is known as the hill, or table 
land, including the various tables and parts, is also situated in this precinct, 
and comprises a major portion thereof, and was settled about the same time 
that the valley land was settled, the soil being of equally good quality, and 
admirably adapted to agriculture. Cummings Park, a beautiful ^nd almost 
level table land, comprising several thousand acres, is situated north and west 
of tlie town of West Union, and within four miles thereof. 

In the year 1879, George Cummings, William Cummings, Samuel Aber- 
nathy and Aleck Nelson moved from Clinton, Iowa, and located in the heart 
of this park, hence the name Cummings Park. In the year 1882, James and 
Gilbert Cummings settled near the county line, or about two miles from 
George and William. After this came James Abernathy, Robert Northy, Eli 
Jameson, James Wilson, Henry Plathe, Joe and George Ankney. W. Beager 
and sons, and various others. The hill land as well as the valley was also 
partly settled by frontiersmen, or floating population, that has long since 
abandoned it and given place to a more substantial and permanent class of 
people; but those that have been heretofore mentioned are still residents of 
the precinct with but few exceptions. About one year ago the B. & M. rail- 
road company extended its line of railroad from Arcadia to Sargent, a town 
located six miles east of the town of West Union, so that instead of it requir- 
ing two days to make a trip to the railroad, it only becomes necessary to take 
one; thus a long felt want has been supplied. 

West Union at the present time consists of two general stores, P. Metcalf, 
who also runs the postoffice, and William Pfrelim; Walnibsley & Smith, drugs; 
William Peterson, blacksmith; Mrs. William Pfrehm, millinery; James 
Pointer, artist. 

It might be of interest to the reader to know something of the personal 
incidents or reminiscences pertaining to the settlement of this precinct. We 
have heretofore had occasion to mention the names of T. W. Dean. Leroy 
Leep and Gus Cosier. A peculiar incident happened to these parties on No- 
vember 20th, after their settlement in the precinct. About three o'clock in 
the morning Mr. Dean was awakened from a sound sleep, and discovered that 
his room was as light as day — the whole heavens seemed to be on fire. He 
sprang out of bed, gathered his pants, and proceeded to put them on. At this 
moment Gus Cosier came dashing up shouting "fire! fire! fire!" It was a 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



249 



prairie fire comin<;- from the northwest — a grand and awful sight, never to be 
forgotten. Property and life were at stake. The head fire was coming on in 
the w^est of them at the speed of a race horse. A stiff gale was blowing from 
the northwest. One hundred yards in advance of the main body of fire, Dean 
had turned his horses loose and they proceeded south toward the river. A 




stock Farm of Mr. Tarlton, near Walworth, Xeb. 

pony was lariated near the house which Lee Leep, then being present, quickly 
mounted, and followed the loose horses, their only hope being to find and 
drive them east across a piece of breaking before the fire reached them. He 
almost reached the place where he knew the horses were, after having left 
the strip of breaking which was just mentioned. Just as he came to a deep 
ravine, he discovered the flames shoot twenty feet high and dash madly for- 
ward. Being too far from the river to make his escape in that direction, he 
wheeled his horse through the blinding smoke, madly lashed him toward the 
strip of breaking. Blinded with smoke, burned by fire, and almost suffocated 
he reached the breaking, hands and face burned, hair and eye brows scorched, 
panting and exhausted. After the fire had passed, one of the horses was found 
on the the river bank, so badly burned that it only lived but a few days. The 
other ran into the river and made its way nearly to the opposite side, where 
it became mired in the quick sand and was found during the day by Mr. Dean, 
The neighbors were summoned, and an effort made to save the beast, but it 
was so bruised and burned that after trying to get it out for half a day it 
had to be killed. 

This left Mr. Dean without a team, but this nuitter was adjusted, how 
ever. Gus Cosier had an ox team, but no wagon, so they formed a partner- 



260 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



ship. Dean furnished the wagon and Cosier the team, thus they succeeded 
in getting along until they could derive means to do otherwise. 

The house of Mr. Dean and Mr. Cosier and their effects were saved. They 
now look back to those days and wonder how they could possibly get along. 
They are now in comfortable circumstances — possessing all the modern con- 
veniences, having horses, carriages and farm machinery in abundance. Prairie 
fires in those days were not unfrequent, and the story just told is similar to 
many like occurrences in the days of the first settlement of this precinct. 

We have heretofore made mention of Cummings park and the early set- 
tlers thereof. This is an elevated portion of the precinct, and wells to the 
depth of 200 feet or more are the rule, and there are some wells that would 
exceed 250 feet. In the first settlement of this locality the well or water ques- 
tion was a very perplexing one. It was known that the whole country con- 
tained sheet water on a certain level, and of course on hiU land it was fartlier 
to water than on low land. Settlers were poor, and as a rule were unable to 
bear the expense of a hydraulic or a casing well, as they now have it; as a 
consequence they resorted to digging wells, even at that great distance, casing 
them with lumber through the sand and gravel, and drawing or elevating the 
Vkater by means of a horse, or two horses, as the case might be, with a rope 
extending over pulleys, attached to a half barrel, with a valve in the bottom. 
Among those who had wells as above described were Samuel Abernathy and 
James Cummings, and by reason of that a sad coincidence happened each. In 
the fall of 1883 Samuel Abernathy caused a well to be dug on his premises to 
the depth of 196 feet, having procured an inexhaustible supply of water. Soou 
after its construction one morning, while attempting to draw water, the bucket 
or barrel, caught at the bottom of the well against the curb. Mr. Abernathy, 
thinking that it would be necessary to go to the bottom of the well to unfasten 
the bucket, there being no rope convenient except the one that the bucket was 
fastened to, told his brother that he could fasten the rope at the top and 
twine it around his foot and slide to the bottom of the well. His brother pro- 
tested against such a hazardous undertaking, but to no avail, and he at once 
attempted to make the descent. After having proceeded about six feet from 
the top of the well his hold gave way and he fell to the bottom of the well, 190 
feet To the surprise of his brother he was found to be alive and conscious. 
Help was summoned, and on investigation it was found that by his falling into 
the bucket or barrel he had jarred it loose, whereupon he gave orders that 
he was able to hold onto the bucket or rope until they could raise him from 
the well. They proceeded to draw him up, and to the surprise of all they 
were successful in doing this, landing him at the top conscious, yet badly 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 251 

bruised and mangled, one arm broken in several places, his legs broken and 
his body badly bruised. Although everything was done that could possibly be 
done for his comfort, he only lived about four hours. 

Later on, in September, 1885, James Cummings, one of Cummings Park's 
lespected citizens, met with a sad and similar fate to the one just narrated. 
Soon after his settlement, he caused a well to be dug after the style of the one 
mentioned above, but to the depth of 210 feet. This well had been dug for 
about three years, and Mr. Cummings. thinking that possibly th«> curb had 
become rotten to such an extent that it would be necessary to recurb, said to 
his wife one morning that he would hitch a team to the end of the rope and 
tie a stick to the other end, and she might let him dowm in the well for the 
pur])ose of examining it, whereupon the rope was drawn out its full length, 
laid upon the ground, one end extending over the pulley and tied in the 
center of a stick about two feet long, and a team hitched to the other end, 
face from the well. 

Mr. Cummings, taking a small stick in his hand, and sitting on the stick 
and astride the rope, directed his wife to back the team and let him down 
slowly. Slow'ly and slowly the team backed. The wife could hear the rapping 
of the stick on the curb until within about ten feet of the bottom of the well 
she h(^ard the cry of ''stop!" Then again she heard the rapping of the stick on 
the ciiib, then instantly came loud and clear a tremendous crash. The wife, 
well knowing the cause, instantly screamed at the team, but they could not 
raise the husband from the earth that had fallen upon him. She hastened to 
the well and called to her husband, but no response was heard. She called 
again and again, but everything was still as death. Excited and terror-stricken 
she called for help. Friends and neighbors, hearing her cry. hurried to the 
rescue. What could be done? Buried alive 200 feet below the surface of the 
earth! News of the disaster spread like wild fire. Stout men and sympathiz- 
ing women hurried to the scene to lend such aid as might be necessary. On 
investigation it was found that the well had caved in for a distance of over 
twenty feet, leaving a large cavity above Mr. Cummings. After examining 
the situation, it was decided to send for one William Garlock, who was an 
experienced well man. During this time nothing was done, but upon his 
arrival he took charge of the rescuing, and said that it would be necessary 
to procure lumber to recurb the portion caved in; consequently teams were 
sent to West Union and the work of rescuing proceeded as rapidly as possible. 
He first directed that it would be necessary- to shovel dirt into the well for 
the purpose of filling up the cavity before proceeding with the digging. Alter 
this was done and the curb cut, ready to place in the well, Mr. Garlock, w'ilh 



252 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

the aid of helpers, proceeded to iincoAer the doomed man. At this time he 
was covered with dirt to the depth of about twenty feet. Soon after the 
digging began, Mr. Garlock reported that Mr. Cummings was alive, for he 
could hear him breathing. This was a great surprise to the friends and 
neighbors who were so anxiously waiting. The work proceeded with more 
rapidity than before, and report after report came up from the well digger 
that Mr. Cummings was still alive. After about ten hours of constant work 
the head of the doomed man was uncovered, and to the sui*prise of all it was 
found that he was conscious and able to give instructions. Slowlj', slowly and 
persistently the noble well digger proceeded, until the entire body down below 
the knees was uncovered. 

At this time everybody was anxiously listening for orders to pull the 
doomed man to the top. but instead a voice was heard from below: ''Let the 
rope down! I want to come up!" The rope was quickly let down and the 
well man taken from the well. Everybody wondered what was the matter, 
and gathered about him for information. He told them that he could do no 
more; that the man's feet were under the curb, and that he could not extend 
his curb on account of the dry ground — that if he undertook to dig below the 
curb, as he would have to do in order to get his feet out, the ground would 
run in and cause the well to cave, and that it could not possibly be done. He 
further said that the only thing that could be done was to fasten a rope around 
him and pull him loose by force; that there was one chance of saving his life 
in this way, but that he was entirely exhausted, and could do nothing more. 
Another man being present who had had some experience in well making, 
volunteered to go down and fasten the rope around him. After this was done, 
as many as twenty-five men took hold of the rope above, and at a command, 
began pulling gradually, pulling hard.er and harder until the rope broke. 

As quick as thought some one present suggested that he had at his home 
a three-quarter rope that he thought was strong enough to pull him out, and 
accordingly some one was dispatched for the rope, and in a very short time 
returned with it. Again the well man descended and securely fastened the 
rope around the body, and again returned to the top of the well. On his 
arrival, as many men as could get hold of the rope did so, and at a command 
began pulling as before. Steady, stronger and stronger they pulled until the 
body was released, every man falling to his knees, the rope having been drawn 
so tight that when he became loosened he was thrown up several feet. Orders 
were given to raise him fast, lest the well should again cave. After he was 
drawn out of danger, orders were given to go slow. This was done, and in a 
few seconds Mr. Cummings was at the top of the well, alive, rational and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 253 

able to tell his ex])('i'ieiice. He said that he did not realize that he had been 
in the well so lonj^-, although he was conscious all the time; that he knew when 
they were throwinj» dirt into the well, and knew when the well man began 
digging; he thought, however, that the falling of Ihc dirt in the well was a 
heavy thunder storm. 

Dr. Wamsley was present, and took charge of the case, but found it a 
bad one. The body was bruised, and the bowels so badly torn that inflamma- 
tion set in and in four days he died. The accident happened about 8 o'clock 
on Saturday morning, and it was 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon when he was 
taken from the well; thus he remained in the well about thirty hours, 
eighteen of this time being under ground a distance of about twenty feet, and 
his having lived while in this condition was due, doubtless, to the fact that 
an iron pipe, used for pumping purposes, was hanging in the well and his face 
was against it, thus affording him sufficient air to keep him alive. 

This sad incident will ever be remembered by the old settlers of Cum- 
mings Park with sadness, as Mr. Cummings was one of our best citizens, 
and his untimely death cast a gloom of despair over the entire communit}'. 



Qlfje ^aunaiinB SragBtiy. 



By James Whitehead. 



The murder of Hiram Roten and William Ashley by Albert E. Haunstine 
occurred November 9, 1888. It -was regarded, and time has failed to change 
the sentiment, as one of the most unprovoked and horrible tragedies known 
in the history of this county. The murderer and his victims lived in the 
same neighborhood — Roten valley. Toward them it was not shown that 
Haunstine had the slightest resentment or enmity. He had, in fact, for a time 
made his home with Hiram Roten, at whose hands and those of his young 
wife he had received the best of treatment. Mr. Ashley, who was a relative 
of Roten's, and lived close by, was not so well known to Haunstine, yet they 
were on friendly terms. The school house of the district, of which Roten and 
Ashley were officers, was located near their homes. A clock and some lumber 
had been taken from the school house, and the fact of the missing goods was 
discovered while yet the tracks of the wagon and team of the supposed pur- 



254 



PIONEER HISTOKK OF CUSTER COUNIY 



loiner were fresh and easy to trace. As this was but one instance in many of 
recent occurrence in the neighborhood, Messrs. Roten and Ashley determined 
they would thoroughly investigate and detect if possible the culprit. 

We are not certain as to the length of time they were absent before their 
friends became uneasy and instituted a search. Some days, however, had 




ALBERT HAUNSTJNE. 

elapsed, when a searching party visited Haunstiue's home, which was back 
from the road and isolated, and found it unoccupied. In looking around they 
discovered the bodies of the missing men, near the house, partly covered by 
hay. Subsequent events disclosed the fact that on reaching Haunstine's house 
and making their business known, he delivered to them the clock which he 
confessed to having taken from the scliool house; that while they remained 
within no words or trouble occurred, but when they left the house and started 
for their wagon he took down his rifle and shot them while their backs were 
turned, killing them instantly. He then searched them and secured about 
|40 in money, their watches and a rifle and revolver. Their team he tied 
in an old deserted sod house on an adjoining claim, and gathering together a 
few household effects, he and his wife started to get out of the country. They 
went to Arnold, changed teams, and drove down the South Loup river to near 
Madison, where Haunstine hired out to husk corn. He worked three days, 
sold his team and then started for Columbus, where his wife had already gone. 
Just as the train was nearing town it was flagged by officers who were on 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 255 

his track, and he was taken by surprise and captured while sitting in the 
smoker with his ritle across his hij). 

He was tried at the March term of the District Court. H. M. Sullivan, 
who was county attorney, had been consulted by the prisoner prior to his 
election, and had. therefore, some scruples against acting as prosecuter. As 
a substitute, however, he employed Judge Wall of Loup City, who, with the 
firm of Blair & Campbell, represented the state. The defense was conducted 
by C. L. Gutterson, A. R. Humphry and N. V. Harlen of York. He was found 
guilty and sentenced to be hung on September 6th following. The case was 
appealed to the Supreme Court, and he was again sentenced to be hung, April 
17, 1891. His defense was insanity, and before the date fixed for his execution 
he acted so strangely that a jury was called to determine his mental condition. 
The trial lasted three days. Public sentiment against the prisoner was so 
strong that a good deal of trouble was experienced in selecting a jury. The 
following named persons were finally agreed upon: J. I. Dillenbeck, T. A. 
Thum, James Dinwiddle, Frank Newbeck, J. C. Hunter, C. U. Richardson, 
John Curry, Nolan Webb, A. R. Huckleberry, A. Cross, T. H. McCarger and 
J. L. Compton. The witnesses for the defense were Mrs. Dr. Talbot, Miss 
Anna Crawford, Mrs. Wm. Blair, O. M. Kem, Wm. Blair, Wm. Hartsell, 
John Miller, Charles Parkhurst and Robert Norcutt. For the state were: 
Dr. Carter, physician at the state penitentiary; Dr. Knapp, superintendent 
insane asylum at Lincoln, Dr. C. Pickett, Dr. J. J. Pickett, county physician; 
Dr. C. H. Morris, Sheriff Jones and Rev. O. R. Beebe, all of whom, with the 
exception of Dr. Knapp (who said that without a more extended observation 
he was not prepared to state whether he was sane or insane), pronounced him 
sane, and believed that his condition was a feigned one. The prosecution 
was conducted by the attorneys who had managed the case from the begin- 
ning, while to the defense was added H. M. Sullivan, whose term of office 
as county attorney had expired. It was one of the hardest fought and most 
ably conducted legal battles ever witnessed in Custer couty. Mr. Campbell 
(then county attorney), was a lawyer of long practice, he was familiar with 
every turn and detail of the case, his associates were men of exceptional 
ability. Judge Wall, especially, ranked high as a trial lawyer, was keen and 
resourceful, a good reasoner and an eloquent pleader. Gutterson, Humphrey 
and Harlan were experienced and well-informed practitioners, and the addi 
tion of Sullivan made a quartette that combined qualities well night invulner- 
able. They were, however, placed in a most trying position. The prejudice 
against the prisoner was marked and universal. No circumstance conuected 
with the killing of his victims could be urged in palliation. It was a cold- 



256 PIONEEU HISTOUY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

blooded, unprovoked biitcliery of two respected and liifijhly esteemed citizens, 
and public sentiment demanded his execution. The date of hanging was fixed 
for the following day and a vast multitude had assembled from all parts of 
the county and from different portions of the state as well. The determined 
expression and sullen silence of the crowd was ominous. Representatives of 
the press from Lincoln, Omaha and elsewhere were present, awaiting the hour 
when the prisoner should atone for his crime. Adjoining the court house and 
facing its south door, the gallovNs was being erected and the din of the work- 
men's hammers were distinctly heard in the court room. None were more 
keenly alive to the situation and the odds against him than the prisoner's 
counsel. By mutual agreement the principal plea in his behalf was made 
by Mr. Sullivan. He remained calmly in his seat until the proper moment 
arrived. When he arose to address the jury no sound save the breathing of 
the audience could be heard. With a few preliminary remarks, in which he 
avowed hi§ belief, and that of his associates, in the irresponsibility of the 
prisoner, he pushed eagerly forward into the very heart of the matter. The 
scene that followed was bewilderingly rapid in transformations; his appeal 
seemed absolutely to swell with indignation. Every look, word and gesture 
showed the intensity of his feelings. Those who were opposed to him in their 
belief as to the mental condition of the prisoner were forced to admire the 
determined and intrepid courage manifested in the face of all opposition. As 
by the legerdemain of some skilled magician, that vast audience was swayed 
and moved by the passionate appeals of the orator and the dramatic episodes 
that marked its delivery. The prisoner alone sat unmoved. The veteran judge 
who for years had sat upon the bench and listened to the most powerful 
pleadings of attorneys of note and orators of national renown, was visibly 
affected by the eloquence and earnestness of the young lawyer, and after- 
wards, in conversation with the writer, paid high tribute to his splendid effort. 
But no power on earth could save his client. The sword of justice, so long 
suspended, was about to descend. The judge delivered his charge and the 
jury retired to their rooms for deliberation. They returned to the court room 
several times for further instructions, and for the reading of different parts of 
the testimony. They also examined the cell, and appeared to be according the 
doomed man every chance. At 2 o'clock in the morning they came into court 
with a verdict of sanity. The prisoner received the verdict with the same 
stolid indifference that had characterized his appearance during the whole 
iu'iuiry. When, however, the time arrived that had been designated by the 
court as the fatal morning, the doomed man seemed to have thrown off the 
mask and was, apparently, trying to fit himself for his impending fate. He 



AND SHOUT SKETCHES OF EAKLI DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 257 



requested Sheriff Jones to call in Father ITalej to administer the necessary 
consohition in the last moments of his earthly career. At half past 10 o'clock 
the priest visited the jail and learned his wishes. He requested the priest 
to come early next morning;' and prepare him to die a sincere Catholic. At 
the appointed hour Father Haley visited the jail, explained the doctrine of his 
church, and stated the necessary conditions for one who embraces the Catholic 
faith. Being: satisfied as to the prisoner's sincerity and disposition to become 
a Catholic, he heard his confession, had him make the profession of faith, 
and administered the sacrament of baptism according to the rites of the 
church. 

In the meantime a rumor had been floating about that a telegram had 
been received by Sheriff Jones from Governor Boyd, granting to the con- 
demned a reprieve for thirty days, which, upon investigation, proved true. 
After the fact became generally known, great indignation was freely ex- 
pressed. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon the immense throng became rest- 
less, and muttered threatenings began to be heard on all sides. Just at this 
critical moment, before the thunder cloud of discontent and distrust of the 
law could burst forth, the calm, dignified person of Judge Hamer appeared 
upon the stone steps at the front door of the court house, who briefly, in a 
clear, ringing voice, addressed the people as follows: 

"Fellow Citizens of Custer County — I have been trying to administer the 
law in this county, as I interpreted it, fairly, carefully and candidly — so care- 
fully that no decision handed down by me upon this bench has been reversed. 
Have patience; the majesty of the law will be maintained. I have always 
found the people of this county law-abiding citizens; I have always found 
them ready to defend the innocent and punish the guilty. If, as I have been 
informed, there seems to be a disposition to murmur at the law's delay arising 
among you, I pray you be patient. Pause; make no mistake. This man whom 
you would have expiate his offense upon the gallows to-day was tried by a 
fair and impartial jury of his countrymen and found guilty. As he had a 
perfect right to do, he appealed his case to the Supreme Court, and there 
the verdict of your jury was sustained and he was again sentenced to be 
hanged. Where there is a question of the sanity of a prisoner under sentence 
of death, the law provides that upon notice from the sheriff of the county 
it becomes the duty of the district judge to cause a jury to be empanelled to 
make inquiry as to the sanity or insanity of such prisoner. I received such 
a notice. Such a jury was called, and after careful inquiry, pronounced him 
sane. I desire to again call the attention of the people to the fact that, as 
to the prisoner, he stands in this position: He was tried and convicted. He 



258 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

was again convicted and is now ready for execution. I therefore ask you to 
do your duty as law-abiding citizens. I want to say to you that the arm of 
the law is all powerful if it can have the support of honest men. I know 
Governor Boyd, and I believe that he is an honest man. He must have had 
good reason for granting this reprieve. We do not know what showing 
may have been made to him. There are always two sides to a question, and 
I believe that we should have patience and trust the man that your ballots 
have placed in such a high position. You have yet no reason to complain. 
Wait. You will be protected. Telegrams have been sent, but as yet we have 
received no answer. You have no reason to doubt yet. I am aware of the 
fact that the burden of taxation upon you is already heavy — no one knows 
this better than I — but the expense has already been made. No further ex- 
pense is to be incurred. I therefore ask you, as honest men, as law-abiding 
citizens, that you do nothing rash. Let it be said that the law has triumphed 
in Custer county, and that justice reigns. I thank you." 

During this speech the crowd listened with the most respectful attention, 
and, seemingly satisfied, began to disperse. Later, however, headed by friends 
and relatives of the murdered men, and armed with crow bars and a sledge 
hammer, the crowd, which had now assumed the semblance of a mob, filed 
into the court house and demanded the keys of the sheriff, but were refused 
and a scuffle ensued. This was a most critical period, and but for the j)ersonal 
efforts of Judge Wall, who stood in the door of the sheriff's office and with 
his giant strength kept back the onrushing crowd, commanding them at the 
same time, in the name of the law, to desist, the sheriff would have been over- 
powered and the keys secured. At this juncture Judge Hamer, who had been 
striving to allay the excitement outside, arrived, and mounting a chair, he 
exhorted and commanded the mob to desist. He assured them no undue effort 
would be made to prevent the punishment of Haunstine and defended the 
action of the governor as thoroughly justified under the circumstances; that 
the prisoner merited death, but let it be meted out to him legally and not by 
violence in contempt and violation of law. As through sheer exhaustion he 
discontinued speaking, James Whitehead, who was called for, responded as 
follows: 

"Gentlemen — As you well know, until last April I was a resident of Grant 
precinct, where this murder was committed. I was well acquainted with 
Koten and Ashley, whose lives were cruelly taken by the one you now demand 
shall expiate the penalty of his crime upon the gallows that has been prepared 
for his execution. They were friends of mine. I had met them in their homes, 
worked with them in the harvest field, and under different circumstances been 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 259 



cast into their society. Tbey were men of integrity and good standing in the 
neighborhood, and I deemed it an honor to have been classed among their 
friends. Standing here beside me is a near relation of one of the men so 
fonlly murdered; behind me is his brother, David Koten, while to the left I 
recognize a son of Mr. Ashley. These men are honored and respected citizens 
of Grant township. I cannot blame them that having quietly, as law-abiding 
citizens, permitted the law\ so far, to take its course, they now demand that 
Haunstine, who desolated their homes and removed their father and brother 
from their midst, who has caused them untold sorrow and inexpressible an- 
guish of heart, shall here and now meet the punishment he has merited by 
his unprovoked and diabolical crime. For them now to seek this as a last 
extreme measure — to take the law into their own hands and see that justice is 
surely and speedily executed — there is much to be said in palliation. But. 
gentlemen, for you to do so, while it might hasten, it would not, in my opinion, 
change the result. This reprieve is only a* temporary stay of execution 
Haunstine is sure to be hung, and that within the next thirty days; then I 
beseech you to allow the law to take its course. The honor of our county, the 
reputation of its citizens, are involved in your action here to-day. Two years 
ago, while discharging my duty as your representative, I w^as told in the heat 
of debate in the legislative halls of this state that the citizens of Custer 
county are hoodlums and outlaws. I resented the insinuation with all the in- 
dignation of one who had faith in the honor and manhood of his people. Now, 
it rests with you to prove to the people of this great commonwealth that I 
was correct in my estimation of you; that you are of truth law-abiding cit- 
izens. Judge Hamer has promised you that Haunstine shall not be removed 
from this jail. Sheriff Jones has done the same. Our judge has promised 
you that he will personally visit the governor and present this case properly 
to him. Mr. Stockham, who has some acquaintance with Governor Boyd, has 
also told you he will start in the morning for the state capital. What more 
do you want? Gentlemen, those of you who live in Grant township, who 
have known and associated with me, know that it has been my honest en- 
deavor to redeem every promise and fulfill every pledge made you, and I now 
say, only preserve the patience that has hitherto characterized you for the 
thirty d^ys' stay fixed by the governor, and if at the end of that time Haun- 
stine is not executed by law% assemble here again, and I promise that I will 
be one who will assist you in meting out justice to this murderer in your own 
way and manner. Only do this, and every precinct in the county will be 
under obligations to make honorable recognition and acknowledgment of the 
patience, forbearance and law-abiding qualities of the citizens of Grant 



260 PIONEEU HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

township exhibited under the greatest provocation, the most trying circum- 
stances imaginable."' 

James Stockluim. chairman of tlie county board, was then caUed for and 
exhorted the assembled multitude to stand by and vindicate the majesty of 
the law. ''A great crime has been committed, and not unjustly or unreason- 
ably, you now demand that justice shall be visited upon the perpetrator of 
this crime. This will be done, and done legally under the law. I promise you 
that I will start to-morrow morning for Lincoln. I will see the governor. 
Judge Hamer says he will accompany me (Judge Hamer: ''I'll be right there"') 
and I have no reason to doubt that when this matter is properly presented 
to him he will permit the execution to proceed and Haunstine will be hung. 
J am addressing no mob, but an uprising of the people in their honest indig- 
nation, and I doubt not you will listen to reason and let the law be vindi- 
cated." 

Judge Wall of Loup City, in strong and manly tones, appealed to their 
sense of right and said: "I have been one to help wring a verdict of guilty 
from the jury that tried this man two long years ago. But I insist that as 
law-abiding citizens, you wait until the law" shall take its course." 

Others spoke. Amid the tumult the reporter was unable to catch their 
names. With additional assurance from Judge Hamer and Sheriff Jones that 
the prisoner should not be removed from the county the crowd quietly dis- 
persed and went to their homes. 

In an excellently written account of the exciting events that followed the 
announcement of the governor's reprieve, the State Journal thus alluded to 
the presence of Mrs. Roten, wife of one of the men murdered by Haunstine: 
''She is a splendid looking woman, but twenty-six years of age, and the mother 
of four children rendered fatherless by Haunstine's crime. She stood in the 
very midst of the thickest part of the struggle with a nerve that excited the 
wonder of all who witnessed the spectacle. The leaders of the mob circled 
around her, whispering to her for counsel, as if she were their queen, and if 
she had finally insisted on Haunstine's execution, no power at the command of 
the sheriff could have prevented them fulfilling her command. The peace- 
makers besought her earnestly, with even- asurance of the justice of the out- 
come, to ask the men to disperse, but she called attention to the fiendishness 
of the crime and to her fatherless children as an excuse for refusing to say a 
word in the culprit's behalf. Failing in this aim, the peacemakers turned 
their endeavors toward preventing her from giving encouragement to the 
mob, and succeeded. 

With reference to the committee, consisting of Hamer, Stockham and 



AND SHORT SKETCHFS OF EARLY DAYS IN NBRRASKA. 



261 



Whitehead, who waited upon the governor to obtain asurance that no further 
obstacle would be olfered to the execution of the sentence, they were informed 
that as far as any action of his might be concerned, their trip was utterly use- 
less. He intimated that he proposed to offer no further delay than that pro- 
vided for in his order of respite, and should not have offered that had he been 
informed in time of the result of the investigation of Hauustine's alleged 
insanitv. 








\it^ 




Execution of Haunstine at Broken Bow. 



Thirty days thereafter, at an early hour in the uunning, the streets of 
Broken Bow began to fill with people from the surrounding country to witness 
the closing ceremonies of the doomed uum's career on earth. The center of 
attraction for the crowd appeared to be the enclosure of rough boards adjoin- 
the south end of the court house, which hid from public gaze the scaffold from 
which the murderer was to be dropped into eternity. The doors of the court 
house were closed against the admission of all except those who had a peiuiit 
from the sheriff, and a wire fence was placed about the shed containing the 
scaffold at a distance of about twenty feet. It had been decided to have the 



262 PIONEER HISTOKY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

execution at 1 o'clock, but this was not known to the public generally. Ac- 
cordingl}^ as early as 9 o'clock in the morning the crowd began to gather in 
order to be on hand when the time came. The scaffold was fenced in by a 
high board wall. Time wore on slowly until about noon; the crowd gathered 
until fully 2,000 men, women and children blocked the street on the south 
side of the court house. Noticeable among the number were many women 
with babes in their arms. Prominent among those present were many rela- 
tives of the men murdered, all eager to witness the doomed man pay the death 
penalty. We would add here that the relatives of the doomed man were 
esteemed and highly respected citizens, well known to our people, who sym- 
pathizd deeply with them in their great trouble, which, through no fault of 
theirs, had come upon them. 

About 12:30 o'clock a thrill of excitement went through the crowd when 
Eli Roten appeared on the top beam of the scaffold which projected above 
the fence, and threw a block of wood over into the yard. This was a signal 
which had, seemingly, been agreed upon, whereupon about fifty men sprang 
over the wire fence, shoved the guards aside, and in less time than it takes to 
tell it, the high fence w^as lying flat on the ground and the gruesome gibbet 
stood in plain view of everybody. It was a moment of intense excitement, 
but Sheriff Jones stepped upon the scaffold and exacted of the crowd a 
solemn promise to remain outside the fence and interfere no further with 
the proceedings. Haunstine, accompanied by Father Haley and Sheriff Jones, 
mounted the scaffold. He looked for a moment over the sea of upturned 
faces and in a full, steady voice, without a tremor, he said: 

^'Ladies and Gentlemen — I desire to ask forgiveness from any one here 
whom I have offended. I also want you to forgive me for all the trouble and 
expense I have been to the county. I also ask all to take warning from me, 
and learn to do right before it is too late. Remember that little things grow 
into large things and the committing of little sins led me on to the commis- 
sion of the crime which has brought me w^here I now stand. Again I ask all 
to forgive me, and hope you will not neglect to seek salvation." 

Father Haley then whispered a few parting words of consolation, pressed 
the crucifix to the doomed man's lips and placed a cross and a string of beads 
around his neck, and exactly two minutes before 1 o'clock the trap was sprung. 
The strain of the shock was too much for the rope, which parted like a thread, 
letting the unfortunate man fall in a heap to the ground. The second fall 
broke his neck and in thirteen minutes he was pronounced dead by the physi 
cians in attendance. His body was taken into the sheriff's ofiflce. where it was 
[irepared for burial by W. J. Woods, after which it was turned over to his 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 263 



brother, who, in the silence of the night, took the remains to his home in the 
southwestern part of the county, where they were quietly interred. Thus 
ended the tragedy which opened that bright November morning in 1888. It 
was an impressive, a horrible scene, and one which few who witnessed will 
ever care to see repeated. 

In preparing the above account of the first and only legal execution that 
has ever taken place in Custer county twelve years after the committal of 
the crime, we have had access to the records, and from the attorneys engaged 
have sought additional information; but it is the local papers that so faith- 
fully chronicled the events and daily happenings in the community that we 
are principally indebted for the details given, prominent among which we 
mention the Custer Leader, the Republican, Merna Record, Callaway Courier 
and State Journal. 



Mtfe B'KafBrfy ait a QlDUiIuiy, 



"The top o' the mornin' to ye, colonel." 

"Good morning, Mike. I am pleased to see you. How are you getting 
along?" 

"Well, sor Oi have turned cowbye. Phwat do ye think o' the loikes o' 
that at my toime of life?" 

"Well, Mike, since I knew you away back in the sixties you have sur- 
prised me so often I have kind of gotten used to it. Where have you been?"" 

"Up in the sand hills northwest of Arnold on the Dismal river wid Dan 
Haskell, Uncle Swain Finch, Jim Farley, C. F. Cooper, I. P. Olive and some 
twenty other cowbyes on a gineral round-up, and was gone exactly thirty 
days. And such scads of fun as the byes had. Sure an' ye wouldn't belavo 
were Oi to tell ye sor." 

"I am not very busy this mornin; perhaps you could give me a nice little 
description of your trip, and of course you will allow me the privilege of using 
my judgment when I think you are stretching the blanket a little too tight." 

"Well, sor, if ye'U give me a pipe and tobaccy (Oi have a match of me 
own) Oi am ready to procade." 

"All right, here you are." 

"Well, our first camp wor on the Dismal river, an' it's rightly named, 
sor, or me name isn't Mike O'Rafferty. It wor near the North & Cody ranch 



264 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



(an' while we are spakin' about it, that Bill Cody is a foine lad.) We had just 
got nicely fixed in the camp when who should come drivin' in but Bill wid a 
big load of provisions on his mess wagon, wid a barrel of whisky on top, wid a 
faucet in the side and a tin cup fastened wid a chain. Bill's driver had no 
more than sthopped till Bill climbed on the sate and shouted: *Byes, yer hum- 
ble servant is goin' to furnish free w'hisky for this here outfit.' Just think o' 
the loikes o' that, will ye? Did ye iver see annything to bate it?" 

"Never did; but w^hat effect did this seem to have on the boys? I sup- 
pose they w^ere slow to take advantage of Bill's generosity? They probably 
insisted on paying him for his whisky, did they not?" 

''Sure, an' ye needn't be supposin' annything of the koind, for divil the bit 
did they sthop to ax anny questions. They sthopped just long enough to take 
in the manin' o' phwat Bill said. Thin such a yell as them cowbyes let out 
o' thim would have done credit to Crow Dog's band. One cowbye shouted: 
'Three cheers for Buffalo Bill!' and ivery hat in the camp wint up in the air, 
amid dafenin' ap — ap — noise, an' be the toime the second hooray was given 
ivery son-of-a-gun had sthampaded for that wagon, hollerin' and tumblin' one 
over the other loike so manny Texas steers." 

"You don't mean to tell me, Mike, you all got drunk?" 

"Av coorse not. There was a few of ns ould fellows as knew too much 
for that, an' only took just enough o' the crayther to kape us from takin' 
could in our jints from shlapin' on the ground. But Oi honestly belave some 
o' the young bucks would have taken too much if it hadn't been positively 
fornist the rules of the round-up. Well, sor, we sthaid here about a week, 
while the cowbyes rode in ivery direction and brought in big bunches of cattle 
which had to be separated, aich outfit takin' care of its own stock, till we 
was ready to go to the nixt campin' place. Such oodles of fun as we had, 
playin' poker at noight and horse racin' whin in the camp in the day time. 
Here is where yer humble servant and Ould High Knocker shined. Although 
the ould fellow is gettin' away up in the years, for two hundred yards he still 
houlds the bilt. Thin we moved to the head wathers of the Middle Loup, 
where the byes agin scather, an' goin' in a northwesterly direction a long 
ways make a great discovery, and the cattle men are wild wid joy. They 
found large, beautiful lakes of wather, and manny foine cattle two and three 
years old, widout anny brands on thim, as wild as deer and elk, which were 
to be seen in big droves. This explained the loss to several big outfits the 
last two or three years. Their cows had sthrayed off up in this lake country, 
and the ranch men, supposin' this country was a dry desert, had not explored 
it before. Here, sor. is the place to go if ye want to know what brandin' 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 265 



mavericks manes. The waj- the brands were burned into the skins o' these 
poor bastes yon wouldn't behive uiHoss ye saw it. Thin we stharted to drive 
our cattle back south, aich man droppin" out wid his bunch as he came to his 
own ranoje, wid what mavericks he had been able to secure. As we came 
along down we picked up several white-faced cattle widout calves. Some 
one remarked that this was a kind of strange. By and by we sees a shmoke 
risin' over a shmall rise in the prairie and concluded to go over and see phwat 
koind of a layout we had found. The first thing we seen wor a shmall log 
house about 14 by IG, and a shmall stable made of logs and covered wid hay, 
and a corral wid fifteen fine, sleek calves wid white faces. As only one onld 
cow on a lariat rope could be seen, it looked rather suspicious, colonel." 

"Well, what did you do?" 

"Well, sor we saw some barefooted youngsters papin' out beyant the cor- 
ner of the house. Some o' the byes let a big hello out o' them, which brought 
a tall, lank-lookin' ould granger to the door." 

" 'Hello, ould man; have ye seen anny sthray cattle around here?' 

'The ould fellow paped out from undher his ould sthraw hat wid a queer 
sort o' grin an' says: ' Phwat brand be ye a lookin' for?' 

" 'The Bar 7, Figure 4, Circle Bar.' 

" 'Havn't seen anny,' grins the ould man. 

" 'How long have ye lived in here, ould man?' 

" 'Only since last spring.' 

" 'Where is yer cattle?' 

" 'Ye don't mane to tell me that is the only cow ye own?' 

" 'Yis.' 

" 'Where did ye get all these foine calves?' 

" 'They all belong to that there ould brindle cow, sor. She's raised every 
wan of them, and I reckon ye'll not find a likelier lot o' calves in a long way.' 

" 'Say, ould man, ye can't stuff us; show up yer cattle or we'll make ye.' 

" 'Well, gentlemen, I'm ready to go on the stand and swear all them calves 
belongs to that ould brindle cow.' 

"Now, colonel, phwat do ye think o' that koind of a cow?" 

"In my estimation the old fellow was lying." 

"Well, sor, we all knew he wor lyin,' but afther talkin' together we seen 
we couldn't prove it. Some o' the byes just axed him for fun phwat his poli- 
tics wor. The ould haythen said he was a middle-of-the-road Pop, and belaved 
in sixteen to one, but as it was an off year the ould cow didn't quite make it. 
But he hoped by another year the crap w^ould be better, the ould blackguard. 
Well, we hadn't seen all the fun vet. On crossin' a divide a shmall bunch of 




a a 
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AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAKLY DAYS IN NEBKASKA. 



267 



UMT^ 







The farmer and his cow that raised fifteen calves in one season. 

One of the boys asked him phawt liis polletics was. He said he ware a Middle o" the Road Pop and belaved in 

in sixteen to wan, but it was a kind of off year and did not quite make it. 

cattle (which had been missed by the byes as we went north) came nmnin' 
out of a dhraw close by. Cautiously approaching the edge, phwat do you 
suppose we saw, colonel?" 

''Well, really I can't say; what was it?" 

"A fellow changin' the brand on a Circle Bar heifer." 

"Well, what did you do with him?" 

''O, nothin' at all, excep' to trate him to the worst batin' wid the end of 
•1 rawhide rope ye iver saw a man get, and when we left his own mother 
wouldn't have known him, an' I reckon he will not want to thry stalin' cattle 
again for some toime. When we got to Uncle Swain's, last night, Aunt Sarah 
had been havin' the devil's own toime. She had been sthayin' at home, wid 
her dog and cat, lookin' afther the sthock. One noight she had retired as 
usual, whin all at once she hears a schrapin' and pawin' noise among her 
milk pans in the cellar. She listens intintly for some toime and nothin' sthirs. 



268 PIONKER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



Thin the pawin' and schrapin' begins again. Now, Aunt Sarah is a good 
housewife and prides herself on kapin' a respectable house, and doesn't pro- 
l)ose to have anny midnight thafe a prowliu' among her little sthore of pro- 
visions, milk, butther and lard. So shlippin' out o' bed aisy, she lights a tallow 
candle (the only koind o' light she had) an' sthoops down to raise the thrap 
door of the cellar, whilst the bangin' an' clattherin' still continues, wid Aunt 
Sarah gettin' madder and madder ivery minute. She sthops all of a sudden 
loike, and remimbers she has nothin' to kill the thafe wid whin she finds him. 
So settin' down her loight she tip toes out, gets the ax an' the pitchfork and 
lavs them down widin rachin' distance, and then procades — -" 

"Neyer mind that, Mike. What I am interested in is what was in the 
cellar." 

"Aisy there, now, colonel; that's just phwat I'm gettin' at. Ye see, sor, 
the cellar wor a hole in the ground about eight fate square, dug sthraight 
down about six fate undher the cinter of the house. Ye had to descind, not 
on stair stips, wan below the other, till ye gintly hit the bottom, but ye had to 
sit down on a finre, swing yer feet into the hole, climb down onto a box, 
thin jump to the ground. So ye see, sor, the difficulty of gettin' into that 
cellar." 

"I see, Slike; but I am glad we both haye plenty of time, or I am afraid 
we would haye to wait until to-morrow to find out what was making it so 
lively among Aunt Sarah's milk pans." 

"Well, sor are ye wondherin' what it wor?" 

^'Y^es." 

"Well, sor, that is phwat Aunt Sarah wor doin', gettin' madder ivery 
minute. She took hould of the ring and gave it a quick yank, held the thrap 
dhure in wan hand and the loight in the other. Parin' down into the dark- 
ness- — phw^at did she see? At first glance she only saw the darkness. Thin, 
as her eyes became accustomed to the surroundius he saw two shmall points 
like balls of fire movin' around in the cellar. Cautiously lowerin' her candle 
she wor no longer in doubt as to the identity of the thafe who was w^alkin' 
proudly to and fro. Phwat a beautiful crayther, to be sure; black, wid two 
white sthripes on his back, with a big bushy tail that he carried wid a gal- 
lantry that would have put to shame manny a more useful animal." 

"Well, Mike, if you have done eulogizing the beauty of the skunk, tell 
me what Aunt Sarah did." 

"Well, sor, I suppose ye are wondherin' how Aunt Sarah is goin' to get 
that shkunk out o' the cellar widout ruinin' her milk an' butther an' every- 
thing else in it?" 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 269 

"Yee." 

''Well, Bor, that is just phwat Aunt Sarah was sayin' to herself. She saw 
she couldn't use her ax or fork, so finally she wiut and ^^ot an empty nail 
keg, tied a sthring to it, and began to fish for the sthriped gintleman by 
shwingin' it near him so he would jump in and she could haul him up. She 
found this a very excitiu' sport, and au hour had gone by and sthill Aunt 
Sarah followed him round wid her keg. Siveral toimes she had the thafe in 
the keg, but whin she stharted to pull him up, out the blackguard would 
jump. Afther another half hour o' this koind o' fun she gives it up and gets 
a board about eight fate long and comes back to find the little haythen just 
makin' the dirt fly, diggin' his Avay back into the cellar wall. 'Bad luck to 
yez,' says Aunt Sarah; 'if it's goin' to be a foight to the finish wid yes, by gosh, 
I'll have yer hide.' Dhroppin' down ou the box she jumps to the bottom, 
Houldin' the loight in front of her, she quietly shlips along toward the shpal- 
peen, who is sthill busily engaged throwin' dirt. She had placed the boord on 
a shlant from the bottom of the cellar to the ground undher the house, makin' 
a sthairs as foine as could be for the thafe to walk out on. She made a 
little noise to atthract his attintion and slowly approched him. He sthops his 
diggin', and fastens his little beady eyes on the loight as Aunt Sarah ap- 
proaches him an inch at a toime, muttherin': 'Ye little divil, Oim thinkin' 
ye'll not be feeliu" so funny whin Oi get through wid yez; yez have got to 
walk that boord out o' this cellar or my name isn't Sarah Finch.' The loight 
is now widin three inches of his nose, thin it is widin two inches. Sthill he 
houlds his ground, wavin' his big, bushy tail loike a banner, niver once takin' 
his eyes from the loight. Thin, all of a sudden, phwat do ye think happened, 
colonel?" 

"I do not know,'' retorts the colonel, excitedly, ''unless he turned and ran." 
"Divil the bit did he do annything of the koind. Aunt Sarah dipped 
the caudle forwards and burned his nose. Thin the circus comminces. He 
sphrings backwards, ivery hair on his mane little carcass sthandiu' toward his 
head. He sthands on his hind legs and scratches his burned nose wid his 
paws. Aunt Sarah chuckles maliciously, as she again approaches wid the 
candle extinded in front of her. She hisses through her clenched teeth : 'Ye'll 
foind me roight here to sthay, Mr. Polecat, if ye don't climb that boord.' 
She warms up to her work and again burns his nose, when he again goes 
through the schratchin' process and retreats around the cellar. Another hour 
passes. Sthill Aunt Sarah follows her victim, burnin' his nose whiniver the 
opportunity offers, determined to drive him from the camp. Sometoimes he 
would walk up the board nearly to the top, thin jump off, the rascal, but 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 271 



oftener he would pretend not to see it, and go iindher it. Aunt Sarah gets 
bouldher as toime goes by. She crowds the inimy into close quarthers and 
burns his nose toime aftlier toime, till she makes it too hot for him and he 
can sthand it no longer, wid the hair and skin literally burned off his pate. 
He mounted the boord and fled out in the darkness, wid Aunt Sarah afther 
him wid the pitchfork. But he was too shwift and escaped, just as the clock 
sthruck twelve, bein' just four hours since Aunt Sarah discovered the thafe 
in the cellar. And, sthrange to say, there was no damage done except to the 
polecat. An phwat do ye think o' that, colonel?" 
"Whv, I should think it trulv wonderful." 



QlaUaraau. 



George B. Mair. 



I have been asked to write a history of Callawaj' for Butcher's Pioneer 
History of Custer County. I find, upon investigation, that most of those who 
were here in the beginning and who took an active part in the organization 
of the town have removed to other parts, and that the birth of Callaway, in 
the minds of the citizens of to-day, is apparently in the dim distant past, a 
dust-covered tradition. * * * \nd as an introduction to the history of 
Callaway, a brief account of the settlement of the territory contiguous may 
not be out of place. 

Probably the first settler to locate in the South Loup valley between the 
present towns of Callaway and Arnold was Frederick Schreyer, who came in 
June, 1875, with a large family, and located a claim where he still resides 
about four miles above Callaway. Mr. Schreyer soon found himself in trouble 
with the cowboys, who attempted to drive him away. He was a shining mark 
for practical jokes at the hands of the cowboys, and accepted everything they 
did to torment him in dead earnest. When they attempted to stampede a 
herd of cattle over the roof of his dugout, or destroj'ed his watermelon patch, 
and such other innocent diversions, Mr. Schreyer positively refused to see 
the point of the joke. 

The next settler to arrive in the valley was David E. Sprouse, who lo- 
cated two miles northwest of the present town of Callaway. In October of 



272 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

the same year came Ira (rraves and George T. Kicker, in search of hind, the 
former filing on a homestead and timber claim adjoining- the future town, and 
the latter locating a mile north of the Sprouse claim. Charles C. Kingsbury 
and Mark Schneringer came about the same time. In 1880 came N. M. Mor- 
gan, N. M. Deems, H. B. Schneringer, Noah Welch, Norman Brendle, Gabriel 
Payton, Ira McConnell, the Whipples, and perhaps others. 



Wa^ 


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Mr^^P 


mm- dll 


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George B. Mair, Wife and Daughter. 

A postoffice was established in August, 1880, which was given the eupho- 
nious name of "Letup," with Ira Graves as postmaster. On petition of Ira 
Graves and Clara P. (craves the name of the office was changed to Delight 
in September of the same year. Mark Deems was installed as mail carrier, 
his route being from Custer to Arnold, and from Olax (now Oconto) to Delight, 
all of these offices being supplied from I'lum Creek. 

School district No. 3 was soon organized, comprising all the territory in 
the southwestern part of the county. The first school house was built of 
sod and was located at the foot of the hill a mile west of the present town 
of Callaway. The first election was held at the Goodyear sheep ranch, near 
the old Finch-Hatton ranch, a short distance above Triumph. The first wed- 
ding in the community was that of Miss Lydia M. Graves to Mr. George A. 
Steele, May 25, 1881, and the first death that of Bennie, adopted son of Mr. 
and Mrs. Graves, March 17, 1881. 

The county was organized into townships in 1883, and the territory em- 
bracing the entire southwestern part of the county was named Delight town- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



273 



ship by N. M. Morgan, the first supervisor. Out of the original township 
the towns of Grant. Elim and Wayne have since been formed, leaving the 
township of Delight with seventy-eight scjuare miles. At the time of the 
settlement here there was no other settlement between the Platte valley and 
Victoria creek. During the few years that followed newcomers arrived almost 
weekly until there was quite a community. In 1885 Mr. Graves induced John 




The First Building in Callaway. 

Moran, a merchant at Olax, to build a store on his farm, which stood on the 
northeast corner of the property now owned by John Frederick. The ques- 
tion as to who is entitled to the credit of founding the town of Callaway has 
been often disputed, and will perhaps never be fully determined to the satis- 
faction of all, but from what we can learn, J. Woods Smith is fully entitled 
to whatever honor the distinction confers, as it was in his brain that the 
scheme originated which materialized in the laying out of the town a few 
months later. As Mr. Smith tells it, Callaway was first conceived in the 
lobby of the Paxton hotel at Omaha, in the fall of 1885. While reading the 
morning paper, he chanced to come across an item stating that the Omaha & 
Republican Valley railroad was going to survey a line up the South Loup 
river the next spring, to intersect with another road which was to be sur- 
veyed up Wood River valley from Kearney. Mr. Smith went to a map which 
was hanging on the wall, and at once made up his mind that the point where 
these two roads came together would be an ideal place for a town. With 
his usual decision, Mr. Smith had a town laid out and thickly populated — in 



274 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



his mind — within live minutes. He imniediatt4y communicated the scheme 
to Hon. A. B. Chard, a jteisonal friend, and the two started for Custer county 
to look over the situation. They found the location even more promising 
than they had anticipated, and nuide partial arrangements for the purchase 
of the (h'aves farm for a townsite, intending to ri^turn early in the spring to 
comidete the deal. When spring came Mr. ('hard had other business to attend 





F. E. BUEGA, Attorney. 



DR. L. MICHEAL. 



and Mr. Smith proceeded alone. Upon his return to Delight he was unable 
to close the deal with Mr. Graves, and he succeeded in making an arrange- 
ment whereby the claims of Albert and M. H. Deems, comprising the east half 
of section 11, township 15, range 23, were secured for a townsite, the Deems' 
taking shares in the syndicate in payment for their land. Mr. Smith also 
purchased of C. W. Gray the northwest quarter of section 11 on his own 
account, which is the land upon which the Railroad addition to Callaway was 
afterwards platted. E. B. Needham, a capitalist from St. Paid, Nebraska, 
also took an interest in the townsite company, and the work of platting was 
commenced at once. The town was named in honor of S. R. Callaway, then 
general manager of the Union Pacific railroad, and the streets were named 
after the general officers of that road and the members of the townsite com- 
pany. The first to erect a building in the new town was Dr. L. Michael, whose 
photograph and a picture of the building accompany this sketch. The second 
building was erected by Harry E. O'Neill for his brokerage business, which 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DATS IN NEBRASKA. 275 

heretofore had been coudiuted on his claim half a mile west of town. The 
next building was a store by Albert Deems. Then John Moran moved his 
general store down from the corner of Mr. Graves' farm, Baker & Yates put 
up a store and put in a stock of groceries, Smith Bros, put up the opera build- 
ing and put in a stock of hardware. These were followed in quick succession 
by W. B. Maze, hardware; Smith & Needham, lumber and coal; Maze & Bur- 
bank, flour and feed; Rogers & Johnson, the Bank of Callaway; Tlieron E. 
Webb, drug store; C. W. Root, drug store, moved from Arnold; Holway & 
Schneringer, livery; L. Palmer, feed stable; Lewis & Holman, meat market; 
M. L. Savage, furniture store; Clark & Owens, real estate, loans and insur- 
ance; B. L. Brisbane, real estate; C. C. Haj^es, James Suhr, blacksmiths; Alex. 
Mallert, G. A. James, restaurants; V. Wymore, John Calligan, McDonald & 
King, Tidej^ & Smea, carpenters; F. A. Clarke & Co., general store, moved 
from Arnold; M. H. Deems, Hotel Excelsior, operated by A. L. Mathews; J. 
C. Naylor, lawyer; George H. Lafleur, barber shop. On August lOtli the first 
issue of the Callaway Standard appeared, which was published and edited by 
Charles A. Sherwood, a first-class printer imported by the townsite syndicate. 
On Sunday, August 8th, a small hurricane swept down the valley and par- 
tially wrecked most of the buildings that were in the course of construction, 
among them being the opera house. Dean's hotel, the Baker & Yates building, 
but the damages were soon repaired and work progressed rapidly. The new 
town boomed all summer. J. Woods Smith, its founder and promoter, was 
well known all over the state. He also had the knack of getting himself in- 
terviewed in the Omaha papers every time he visited that city, and the result 
was, Callaway was soon the best advertised town in Nebraska. While to the 
ordinary individual Callaway appeared destined to become a prosperous little 
village, in the Utopian vision of J. Woods Smith nothing less than the state 
capital awaited it. 

During the summer of 1886 the Omaha Bee said : "Callaway is six weeks 
old, with fifty houses, a hotel, 78 by 56 feet, an opera house, 48 by 60 feet, and 
a population of 200 inhabitants. Its representation in business houses is ex- 
cellent, though at present in need of a watchmaker and jeweler and a harness 
man. A first class outfit for a new^ paper to be called the 'Callaway Stand- 
ard,' together with an editor, have already been shipped, and the first sheet 
of the new journal will appear next week. It will be followed by the issue of 
a rival paper one week later. The crops in the vicinity are said to be the fin- 
est in the state, and Mr. Smith says that he has never seen finer corn than 
they are now cutting down on the site upon which the town is built." 




S3 



3 B 



cB la 



CO E-i 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 277 

The survey of the road was completed that summer and the grading done. 
The grade is still there, from Pleasanton to Callaway, but no iron has ever 
been laid on it. The Wood river line was graded soon after, but it was not 
until four years after, that the road was finished from Kearney to Callaway. 
This scheme materialized in the formation of the New Callaway Townsite and 
Improvement Company, with C. W. H. Luebbert, president; N. M. Morgan, 
vice president; Harry E. O'Neill, secretary, Ira Graves, treasurer; John Reese, 
solicitor. The land was purchased of Ira Graves, the site of New Callaway 
platted, and inducements offered to old town business men to move up, as it 
was expected that the New Callaway promoters had influence enough to se- 
cure the depot. The inducements, however, did not draw any of the old town 
people away, except Harry O'Neill. Upon the organization of Callaway the 
postoflfice had been moved from Mr. Graves' farm to town, and the name 
changed from Delight to Callaway. Harry O'Neill was postmaster when he 
moved up to the new town, but he had to leave the postoflfice behind. The old 
town citizens patrolled the streets at night with shotguns to prevent the office 
from being stolen. A newspaper plant was purchased by the New Callaway 
Syndicate, and on June 29th, 1887, the New Callaway Courier was born in a 
frame building which was then located near the present residence of John 
Frederick, with W. C. McMiller as editor. Then commenced one of the big- 
gest townsite fights in the history of central Nebraska. The new town was , 
derisively christened "Podunk" by the old town people, and the New CaUa- 
wayites were termed "Mudhens." The failure of the Wood river line to be 
built that fall put somewhat of a damper on the New Callaway project. The 
few residents of the town who had been induced to locate with the under- 
standing ihat it was to have the railroad depot at once, became discouraged 
and moved away. In October, 1887, when the writer first arrived on the 
scene from Chicago to assume charge of the New Callaway Courier, he found 
the two rival towns lying on their arms awaiting developments. Every busi- 
ness enterprise in New Callaway had gone aw^ay except the Courier, but it was 
doing a flourishing business. It was published in the frame building now oc- 
cupied as a photograph gallery by Isaac Bryner. It was then located on the 
corner of Pearl street and Third avenue. New Callaway. On the corner diag- 
onally across the street was a gopher hole, and the two other corners were 
occupied by a bullfrog and another gopher. The Courier had a big circulation, 
and was well filled with advertisements from merchants of Broken Bow, Co- 
zad. Plum Creek and Arnold; but it had none from Callaway, as that would 
have been considered high treason by the old town people, and would have 
been sufficient reason for a boycott against the offender. The Courier, how- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



279 



ever, did a flourishiujL:: business, and became famous all over this part of the 
state as the paper that was published in the town that had no other business. 
During- the winter of 1887 the weather was very cold, and as coal had to be 
hauled houi Cozad. there was sometimes a dearth of fuel. The office build- 
ing was made of boards that were mostly knot holes, and unplastered, con- 
sequently not over warm, and the paper was not unfrequently "run off" when 
the temperature on the outside was below zero, and not much higher inside. 
It was frequently the duty of the editor to sally forth after dark into some 




A mixed train on the Kearney and Black Hills branch of the Union Pacific. 
The present terminus is Callaway. Oct. 7, 1890. 



handy cornfield with a two bushel sack to rustle enough fuel foi- the next 
day. One day a man whose field had been visited pretty often came into the 
office and wanted to know how much it would cost to have a notice jjut in the 
paper. He said somebody was stealing his corn and he thoug'ht a piece in the 
paper would scare them off. We made a deal to publish a warning against 
the offender for a dollar and a half, and no more corn was stolen from that 
field during the remainder of the winter. This shows the power of adver- 
tising. 

During 1888 M. L. Savage built the present postoffice building. The Seven 
Valleys' Bank building was also built the same year, as was also a new store 
by F. A. Clark & Co. The Seven Valleys Bank had been established the 
year previous by J. Woods Smith and others. The Union Bank was estab- 
lished in 1888 by J. Woods Smith. J. E. Decker and J. H. Decker. The spring 
of 1889 came, and still no railroad. The town was at a standstill. The New 
Callaway project was practically dead and the New Callawy Courier moved 



280 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



iy^ 



hi. 



W H 




H. H JAndrews doing business in liis bank vault after the late fire 
in Callaway. Showing Western push and energy. 



to the old town and became the ralhiway Coiiiier. George B. Mair, the editor 
and publisher, was appointed postmaster, purchased the postoffice building 
and added another room which has since been used as a printing office. K. 
E. Brega came to the town during this year and established himself in the law 
business. Kailroad rumors were rife and the Kearney & Black Hills Rail- 
road Companj^ was organized. 

The magnificent water power afforded by the South Loup river had 
commended itself to the business men of Callaway, and many meetings were 
held to talk up the project of erecting a flouring mill, to be operated by 
water power. These meetings resulted in the formation of the Callaway 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



281 



Milling and Manufacturing Company, which was composed of most of the 
business men. Work was commenced on the dam across the Loup river in the 
fall of 1889, and the wheels of an up-to-date, modern roller mill began to 
move in the spring of 1890. A proposition to vote |8,60() bonds for the pur- 
pose of assisting the Kearney & Black Hills railroad to build from Kearney 
to Callaway was submitted to the township and carried almost unanimously. 
Work on the old right of way commenced at once, and on the 7th day of 





DR. R. R. BAKER. 



F. CON LEY. 



October, 1890, the first regular passenger train pulled into Callaway. The 
depot was located neither in the old town nor the new, but half way between, 
on the farm of J. Woods Smith, which was purchased by the Callaway Im- 
provement Company on which to lay out a new town of Callaway, now known 
as the Railroad addition. Engineers of the railroad company laid out the 
town on a grand scale, large enough for a city of the first-class, and some 
very good buildings were put up, among them being the Grand Pacific hotel 
at a cost of over |10,000. A number of business enterprises located in the new 
town, and liberal inducements were held out to the old town to move up in 
a body. It was supposed that the location of the depot would cause every- 
thing to rush to the Railroad addition at once, but such was not the case. 
Many of the old town people were interested in old town real estate, and if 
the town moved to the uew^ addition it would become practically worthless. 
It was evident to a disinterested onlooker that the Railroad addition was 



282 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



bound to win in the end, but the old town people made a bitter fight. J. 
Woods Smith, being interested in the new town, moved his opera house 
building over and also established a store there in what was known as the 
Improvement building. Vangreen Bros, moved up to the new town. A new 
drug store was established with Dr. F. J. Greer as manager, Dierks Bros, 
and the Gilcrest Lumber Company put in yards, a brickyard was established, 
and a large two-storv building known as the Grand Armv building was 





J. WOODS SMITH 



DR. A. L. MATHEWS. 



erected for store and lodge purposes. The many newcomers who were at- 
tracted to the locality by the advent of the railroad were not, of course, inter- 
ested in the townsite fight, and mostly located in the new town. Being satis- 
fied that there was but one way for the contest to end, and wishing to bring 
it to a close as soon as possible, the postoftice was moved to the new town at 
midnight by G. B. Mair without previous notice. The following morning, 
when the people of the old town found out what had happened their wrath 
knew no bounds and all sorts of threats were indulged in. The Courier was 
moved to the new town at the same time. So incensed were they, that the 
people of the old town refused to mail their letters at the postoffice, but sent 
them to the neighboring offices to be mailed. At the arrival of every mail 
they sent a messenger up to the postoffice with a sack, who collected all the 
mail for the old town business men and carried it down to the Bank of Cal- 
lawy, where it was redistributed. In the meantime they were procuring sig 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



283 



natures to a pel it ion and inotcst which was foi-wardcd to the I'ostofTico De- 
partmeut, which brought a i)ostol1icc' inspector to investij;ate. Tlie inspector 
concluded that the postmaster had acted without due authority in moving the 
office, and his resignation was asked for. This tlie postmaster declined to 
do, and lie was removed and a temporary postmaster appointed by the in- 
spector, pending the final decision of the postmaster general. In a few months 
the department reinstated the postmaster, but the location of the office was 





MILU YOUNG 



ROY BARNARD 



fixed in the old town, whither it had been taken by the inspector at the time 
of his visit. Soon after this the entire old town capitulated and moved np to 
the new town, followed by the postoffice some months later. The year 1891 
was a season of big crops and the new town enjoyed quite a boom. Money 
was plenty and the business men had a fine trade. Many new buildings were 
erected, among them being two large grain elevators. The town was full 
of traveling men and strangers, and the townsite syndicate had succeeded in 
interesting a number of eastern capitalists in the town. Arrangements had 
been made for a big excursion at some future date, but in the meantime poor 
crops and partial failures followed, culminating in the drought period of 
1894-5, which drove away half the population of the state, and in which Calla- 
way dwindled down from a hustling town of 000 people to a dead village of a 
little over 200. The people became almost panic stricken, and a cry went out 
for help that was responded to from ocean to ocean with a generosity that has 



284 PIONBER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



never been equaled. Grain, food and goods of all kinds came into the county 
by the carloads from almost every state in the Union, and serious suffering 
was prevented. The railroads, which had been said to have no souls, disproved 
the assertion at this time, and they gladly offered free transportation for 
solicitors and supplies during all that trying period. Since then this locality 
has enjoyed fair crops. On the night of March 15, 1901, the principal business 
block was completely destroyed, entailing a loss of about $50,000. This has 
resulted in the passage of a fire limits ordinance by the village board, and 
preparations are already being made to rebuild the burned district with fine 
modern brick buildings. 

Following are the principal business enterprises of Callaway at the pres- 
ent time: General merchants, John Moran, Selby & Banks, Vangreen & Baker, 
George O. Benger, D. L. Hopkins, P. K. Winther, J. W. Powell; hardware and 
furniture, Benger & Decker, F. B. Harrington; meat market, W. E. Shupp, 
George H. Lafleur; drugs, Ira C. Shupp; Grand Pacific hotel, R. D. Ewings; 
restaurant. James Oliver; photographer, picture frames and notions, Isaac 
Bryner; milliner, Lillian Idell; blacksmiths, J. H. Evans, L. Anderson; Dierks 
Lumber and Coal Company; J. D. Wieland, agent, agricultural implements; 
Gllcrest Lumber and Coal Co., D. Andrews, agent; Benger & Decker, hard- 
ware; Charles B. Drum, harness maker and shoe repairing; F. J. Drum, well 
machinery; grain dealers, Omaha Elevator Company, A. J. Higbee, agent; Pa- 
cific Grain Company, J. H. Chapman, manager; live stock dealers, John Fred- 
erick, Willard Mathews; newspapers. Courier, Mair & Barnard, publishers; 
Tribune, F. W. Conly, publisher; printing office, Mair & Barnard; lawyer, R. E. 
Brega, real estate and insurance; H. H. Andrews, F. W. Zumbrunn, W. H. Phil- 
lips; barber, Charles Moak; physicians, A. L. Mathews, F. J. Greer, Thomas Val- 
lier; contractors and builders, P. Wymore, C. I. Hall; livery stables, C. M. Brit- 
tan, B. McDonald, H. E. Greer; Seven Valleys Bank, T. Norbury president, W. 
Tyson cashier; flouring mills, Callaway Milling and Manufacturing Company, 
F, L. Haycock, manager; jewelry and watch repairing, George Greer; post- 
master, J. J. Douglass. R. M. Grimes is agent for the Kearney & Black Hills 
railroad, of which Callaway is the terminus. Callaway has first-class tele- 
phone connection with all the surrounding towns and a company has just 
been organized to put in a local system. Three churches, the Episcopal, the 
Methodist and the United Evangelical, provide for the spiritual wants of the 
community, while the cause of education is well attended to through the 
medium of a good public school system, of which Professor Robert Thomson 
is the present efficient superintendent. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



285 



3lu0ley. 



Tom Wright. 



Ansley is an enterprising village of 500 inhabitants on the Grand Island 
& Wyoming Central railroad, cosily nestled between rough-chiseled hills, in 
the most beautiful and fertile valley in the southeastern portion of Custer 





TOM WRIGHT, Editor Chronicle. 



J. H. KERR. 



county. The first settlement in the village was made in the summer of 188fi, 
and it has steadily grown, in spite of adversities, until it now stands as a 
monument to the personal worth and energy of its citizens. As a result of 
their enterprise the city can boast of having electric lights, water works, the 
largest and most commodious public hall in Custer county, three handsome 
churches and a fine school house. 

The religious denominations are represented by the Methodists, Christians 
and Presbyterians, each of which owns neat and commodious buildings free 



286 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




? 



\ 
^ 





M. E. Church, Ansley. 



from incumbrance. The early history of the M. E, Church in Ansley is not 
very well known. The Ansley church is the outgrowth of what was once the 
Algernon circuit. As nearly as can be found out, the change was made some 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



287 





Christian Church, Ansley. 



time dining the pastorate of Rev. D. M. Ellsworth, and Ansley became the 
head of the charge, including Berwyn and Mason City. At that time there 
were but few Methodists in the community. Some time during the year 1800 
ihe citizens of Ansley formulated the plan of erecting a Methodist church. 
The outcome of that plan is our beautiful church edifice, 30 by 50 feet in size, 
heated by furnace and lighted by electricity. Rev. Ellsworth was superceded 
by Rev. Francis Brock, who served as pastor for two years, when the conrer- 
ence stationed B. T. Peck at Ansley. Rev. Peck remained something over a 
year, w^hen, at the following session of the annual conference, Rev. L, W. 



288 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



Chandler was sent to the Ansley work. Rev. Chandler was a most successful 
man in many ways, building up the church in ways that it had not before 
been built up. Under his supervision the Epworth and Junior leagues were 
organized and did eflQcient work. While the membership was not large, it 
was active. Rev. Alfred Gilson followed Rev. Chandler. Rev. Gilson was fol- 
lowed by W. H. Forsyth. The present pastor is Rev. M. H. Foutch. 





E. G. TAYLOR. 



MRS. E. G. TAYLOR. 



The Christian church was founded in 1890, commencing with the small 
membership of sixteen. In 1892 the church was built and dedicated the latter 
part of August. The seating capacity is 350, and the cost of the structure 
was |3,000. The first pastor was Rev. Hedges. He was succeeded by Rev. 
Fred Hagin. Rev. Sherman Hill followed Rev. Hagin. He was superceded 
by Rev. Walker and Rev. George Bailey, The present pastor is Jesse R. 
Teagarden. 

The Presbyterian church was the first church erected in Ansley. It was 
built in the spring of 1887 and dedicated in July of the same year, Rev. Sexton 
of Seward oi'liciating. The first pastor was Rev. Doremus. Being the only 
church it was used by all denominations until each was able to erect a church 
edifice of its own. Several ministers, whose names I have been unable to 
learn, tended and cared for the flock until 1893, when Rev. Mitchelmore 
became pastor. He was the minister until the spring of 1894, Avhen the 
church, on account of the drought, could not support a pastor. The church 
stood vacant until two or three years ago, when the few scattered members 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



289 





Li..: 



Public School, Ansley. 



rallied and reorganized, and ever since the}' have had a pastor in the person 
of Kev. Paul Naylor. The Baptists hold their services in this church, but are 
formulating plans to build one of their own. 

I would certainly feel that I had not done justice to Ansley were 1 to 
omit giving a brief description of the Modern Woodmen hall. It is a handsome 
structure, 36 by 84 feet on the ground. The lower story is conveniently ar- 
ranged with dining room and kitchen, and a large room for general purposes. 
The second story is the opera house, with porch and vestibule, two reception 
rooms and a large audience room with seating capacity of 400. Over the re- 
ception rooms is a gallery with a seating capacity of over 150. The stage scen- 
ery is superb, the work being done by a first-class artist at a considerable cost. 
It is lighted with acetyline gas. 

Our school house is a two-story frame structure, conspicuously located 
on an elevation east of the village. It was one of the first public buildings 
erected in the village. It has accommodation for over 200 pupils, and has 
four teachers who are kept constantly employed. The course of study requires 



r"- 




4ND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBBASKA 





Flouring Mill, Ansley. 



<4eyen years and its graduates are fitted, upon leaving, to enter any of the 
seminaries in the United States. 

The business houses and most of the private residences are lighted by elec- 
tricity furnished by the Ansley Electric Light and Power Company. A large 
flouring mill is in operation adjoining the limits of the village supplying the 
necessary flonr for its inhabitants and also providing a market for the grain. 

Previous to the year 1886 there was nothing to mark the spot where 
Ansley is now located. The land was purchased from a ranchman by the 
name of Anthony Wilkinson by the Lincoln Land Company and platted for a 
town. The town was named Ansley in honor of a lady by that name who 
invested considerable money in real estate, such as lots, in the newly laid out 
town. Therefore, as before stated, the first settlement was made in the year 
1886. The first frame building erected was occupied by a lawyer by the name 
of George Snell. That building is still a portion of the business part of town 
and is now occupied by a physician. The school building that appeared on the 
bleak, uncultivated prairie was moved from Westerville, seven miles distant, 
by Edgar Varney, who still owns the building. It has been remodeled and is 
at the present time used as a billiard hall. The next building was a hotel 



292 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Residence of B. J. Tierney. 



known as the Vansant house, but is now the Cottage hotel. The building now 
occupied by Mrs. R. J. Tierney as a drug store, then owned by Samuel Royds, 
was next erected, followed by both banks, the stores of E. H. Burrows and 
A. H. Shepard and the Jones hotel. Other buildings followed in quick suc- 
cession. The residences built in the year 1886 were those of J. W. Comstock 
and Mrs. Abbey, and a few others. The residences of E. H. Gaines and Dan 
Hagan were built in 1887, and the handsome residence of C. J. Stevens in 1888. 
Many other residences followed rapidly. Among the first settlers who are still 
residents are A. H. Turpen, O. P. AUphin, Mrs. H. Stevenson, C. J. Stevens, 
E. H. Burrows, D. A. Vansant, Mrs. B. J. Tierney, Edgar Varney, Thomas 
Blowers, A. H. Shepard, C. M. Dorr, James Davis, Mrs. F. E. Gosselin, A. L. 
Butler and E. A. Butler. The above are the only original settlers, as given 
to us, who now reside in the city. E. H. Burrows, one of the first settlers 
in this village, and now one of our leading business men, relates his expe- 
riences in the following paragraphs: 

''I first struck the town in the middle of May, 1886. At that time there 
was a tent and a wagon load of lumber to mark the spot where the future 
metropolis of the southeastern part of Custer county was to be. I selected my 
lot for a building site at that time and went back east for a while to await 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



293 




Residence of E. H. Burrows. 



developments, returning about the Ttli of July. On mj return I found more 
tents, more lumber on the ground, and a few shanties in course of erection. 
We were compelled to haul our lumber for building purposes, by wagon, 
from Kearney, over sixty miles, which brought the price of six-doUar-a-thou- 
sand knot holes up to the price of 'B' select. While staying at Ansley this 
time I boarded at the West End hotel, a fine structure built of 'B' select 
knot holes, size 12 bj' 14 feet, one story, one room, which answered for 
kitchen, dining room, office, parlor, bath room and bed room. Everybody 
was good-natured and the landlord expected his guests to 'double up' every 
night with whoever he saw fit to assign with us, and at the first peep o' day 
the clerk would come and shake us, saying: 'Time to roll off them tables; 
the girls want to set the tables for breakfast,' with which request we cheer- 
fully complied, pulling on our shoes as quickly as possible, went out doors 
and leaned against the knot holes until the bell rang for breakfast. We sat 
up to the table and the waiter called out from the kitchen: 'Tea or eofl'ee. 



294 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




Residence of A. H. Shepard, Ansley. 



which, yon fellers on the north end?' and of course we said coffee, because 
it had more body than the tea, which prevented us from seeing what was 
floating about between the bottom and top of the cup. The waiter brought 
in a plate of hot biscuits and another with eggs and bacon, set them on the 
table and said: 'Now, boys, help yourselves.' We waited for some time, w^on- 
dering if we were expected to use our hands for plates and our fingers for 
knives and forks. We finally asked the waiter if that was the intention. He 
replied: 'Come off the dump! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! There is your table- 
ware.' And sure enough there it was. We had failed to remove the cover 
of fat, saucy flies that had taken possession of our plates as if they had ex- 
pected to be waited upon first. Such was my first experience living in 
Ansley. When I arrived the third time, what a change a short period of 
four or five weeks had made. From a brown prairie to a busy village. I 
found about twenty buildings in different stages of erection, my own among 



AND SHOET SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 295 

tliem, which was partly inclosed. I scraped a lot of shavings together, spread 
down my blankets and slept under my own vine and fig tree. But, alas! not 
alone. After I fell asleej) I dreamed that I was a boy again and went down 
to the creek to take a swim, and just as I was ready to take a plunge into 
the water I fell backwards into a bunch of nettles. I awoke, and as soon 
as I got myself located I realized it was not nettles, but fleas." 

The business interests of Ansley are represented by four general stores, 
conducted by E. H. Burrows, C. J. Stevens, A. H. Shepard and A. W. Hawk; 
three hardware and implement stores, by E. H. Gaines, J. H. Kerr and Butler 
& Hiser; one bank, C. J. Stevens presiden, T. C. Gibson cashier; three drug 
stores, C, K. Hare, Mrs. B. J. Tierney, O. P. Allpine; three milliners, Mrs. E. 
H. Burrows, Miss Anna Simpson, Mrs. C. B. Quinn; two hotels, Tony Hilde- 
brand, W. Lewis; two butchers, John Davis, Norton Amsberry; one newspa- 
per, the Chronicle, Tom Wright, editor and proprietor; one furniture store and 
undertaking establishment, Mrs. F. E. Gosselin; one lawyer, Judson C. Porter; 
two lumber yards, Dierks Bros., Foster & Smith; one restaurant, A. L. But- 
ler; one barber shop, A. H. Turpen; one jeweler and optician, Roy Thompson; 
two blacksmith shops, C. M. Horr, Matt Harris; two physicians, W. R. Young, 
E. A. Hanna; two grain elevators, Tierney & Wirt, Central Granary Company; 
one creamery, owned by a stock company; one general repair shop, F. W. 
Carlin; two pump and windmill establishments, O. H. Conrad, Hiram Curtis; 
one harness shop, J. W. Comstock; one news depot, Miss Janet Stevenson; 
three livery and feed stables, Alex Moore, Joel Lanum, Quinn & Cox; one 
stock buyer, B. J. Tierney; two carpenters, A. P. Hoover, O. B. Jenkins; one 
carriage and wagon shop, William Burdett; one flouring mill, C. J. Stevens 
proprietor; postmaster," T. T. Varney. 



Sargent. 



Sargent is a bustling village of over 300 inhabitants, situated in the 
northeastern part of Custer county in the midst of a fine agricultural and 
stock raising district. It is located on the north side of the Middle Loup 
river, about one mile from that stream. Sargent is one of the oldest towns 
in the county, having been laid out in 1883. The first bank in the county 
was located here. The first building erected was the general store of J. K. 
Spacht, in the summer of 1883, and the location was the middk' of a field of 



296 



PIONEFR HISTORY OF ( USTER COUNTY 



wheat. The town grew quite rapidly and was particularly lively in the sum- 
mer of 1888, when the B. & M. railroad grade was built, and it was expected 
that the cars would be running into the town that fall. Owing to a big strike 
on the system the road was not completed at that time. The drought years 
of the early -OO's caused the town to dwindle down to a mere shadow of its 
former self. In the fall of 1899, however, the track was laid from Arcadia lo 
Sargent, making the latter the terminus, and since that time the town Las 





J. C. L. Wisley, Wife and Daughter Eva. 



A.'H. Barks, Lditui Leader. 



had a very substantial growth. The Independent Telephone Company of 
Broken Bow extended its line to Sargent in the fall of 1900. The same fall 
a fine, two-story frame school building was erected, which now houses one 
of the best schools in the county under the charge of three teachers. Sargent 
has two churches, the Congregational and the Methodist. It has several fine 
business blocks, two newspapers, two banks, two grain elevators, a creamery, 
with other lines of business well represented. Following is a complete busi- 
ness directory of the town at this time, March 8, 1901: 

Armstrong, D. E., windmills, pumps and repairs; Austin, J. S., Racket 
store, general merchandise; Barstow & Perrin, hardware, paints and harvest- 
ing goods; Bridgford, Ben, druggist, R. W. Hicks manager. Mr. B. is an old 
pioneer and came to Mason City in 188G with a drug store, which he run 
seven years, and now is located at Ord, Nebraska; Brown, M. F., contractor 
and builder; Brumbaugh, G. W., Commercial hotel and livery; Brown, E. R., 
Windsor hotel; Beers, Robert, contractor and builder; Currie Grain Company, 
grain and coal; Custer County Bank, James Haggerty president, Charles C. 
Gardner cashier; does a general banking business; Charles C. Gardner also 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF KARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



297 



postmaster and local agent for telephone line; Cropper, W. T., farm machin- 
ery; creamery, Beatrice Creamery Company proprietor; Conhiser & Haggerty. 
general merchandise and groceries; Davis & Co., furniture, carpets and un- 
dertaking goods; Dierks Lumber and Coal Company, lumber, coal and build- 
ing material, Frank Phillips manager; Fenstermacher, C. H., physician and 




Custer County Bank. 
Jas. Haggerty, President. Chas. Gardner, Cashier. 

surgeon; Freeman, Charles, liquors and cigars; Farmers' and Merchants' 
Bank, A. P. Cully president, Charles Nicolai cashier, does a general bank- 
ing business; Graham, J. H., dentist; Geiser & Swanson, farm implements 
and hardware; Groff, Mrs. H., restaurant; Hendrickson, Charles, billiard hall; 
Harris, C. L., contractor and builder; Jaques & Barstown, grain and coal; 
Leader, newspaper, A. H. Barks editor and proprietor; Leininger, P. H., live 
stock; Little & Co., Farmers' Meat Market; McGregor Bros., blacksmiths; 
Morris, Miss Gertrude, dressmaker; Mitchell, K. J., groceries, successor to 
B. W. Sillivan; Nelson, W. H., painter and paper hanger; Olson T., restau- 
rant; Perrin hotel, S. L. Perrin proprietor; Parks. C. W., live stock, successor 
to Parks & Cram; Pizer, J. B., New York store; Savage, E. P., real estate and 
insurance, agent Lincoln Land Company; Savage Bros., Star Livery Barn; 
Saunders, Walter, shoe and harness shop, general merchandise; Spacht & 
Lakeman, groceries and general merchandise; Saville, F. N., City Barber 
Shop; Scriber, L. A,, liquors and cigars; Semler, J. D., City Meat Market; 
Shaw, D. M., brick mason and plasterer; The New Era newspaper and job 
office, J. C. L. Wisely editor and propiictor; Tolivcr, John, auctioneer and sales- 



298 



PIONEER HISTORY OP CUSTER COUNTY 



FUKllllunt 





First Furuitiire Store in Custer County, owned by J. H. Hrandenbury. 

man, restaurant and bakery; Tobias, A. A., jeweler and optician; Troxell & 
Jolmson, liardware; Waynick, I. W., druggist, physician and surgeon; Werber, 
Rudolph, harness shop; R. H. Monroe, agent for the B. & M. railroad and 
Adams Express Company; Rev. Lesle, pastor of the M. E. Church; Rev. Jones, 
pastor of the Congregational church; Professor H. H. Hiatt, principal of the 
Sargent schools, his assistants being Miss Mamie Cooper and Miss Nighten- 
gale. 



ffiarly (B^^nmxutr in ;§aviunif JBr^nncl 



F. M. Morris. 



F. M. Morris, I. W. INIorton and R. W. Fulton were the first permanent 
settlers in Sargent precinct, north of the present village of Sargent, although 
the claims afterwards taken by Morris and Norton had been entered some 
eighteen months before by parties of a suspicious character who had built 
a dugout on the Norton claim, digging into a ridge which comes out of the 
bluffs facing south on the Middle Loup valley, and so cunningly concealed by 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAHLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



299 



rooting- it with sod, grass side up, that ono conhl hardly rocoguize it as a habi- 
tatiou. Fifty yards from this dugout they had two tunnels leading through 
the hill back to two stables secreted in a canon full of ash timber and plum 
brush, and it was supposed they belonged to a band of outlaws who were en- 
gaged in the occupation of stealing horses. When the claim was contested 
none of the parties appeared to make any defense. 




J. H. BRANDENBURY. 



David Groff, his wife and sons, had preceded these settlers about four 
years, locating in the east end of the precinct in 1874, the three men referred 
to above locating on July 4, 1878. H. P. Smith and Mortimer Lewis located 
in October of the same year. 

Mr. Morris had some wheat stored at the Milford mill, near Ord, thirty 
miles distant, in the winter of 1880. One day he started to the mill, leaving 
only a few pounds of flour in the house. When he reached the mill he found 
the dam washed out, and not being able to exchange any of his wheat for 
flour, he took it to the Sweetwater mill on Beaver creek, near where Ravenna 



300 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



now is. This dam was also washed away, and he had to travel for eleven 
miles up the stream to find a crossing' place, and then eleven miles back on 
the opposite side of the creek, in order to get on the road to Gibson, in 
Buffalo county, eighteen miles from Sweetwater, where there was also a 
mill. When he arrived at Gibbon the miller informed him that they were four 
days behind with their work, and that it would be impossible for him to 




Residence of Mr. Plymale. 



get any flour insido of that time. Mr. Morris told the miller that he was 
eighty miles from home and that his family was without flour or meal, but the 
miller positively told him he could not do any grinding for him for four days. 
Mr. Morris was a very large man, and, swelling himself up until he was con- 
siderably larger than even his natural size, he told the miller that he was 
going to feed his team and that if his grist was not ready in the morning 
there was going to be i rouble. The miller evidently thought he had struck 
a pretty tough customer, for wlien Morris went to the mill in the morning he 
found the man emptying his flour into his sacks. Morris and another home- 
steader who had been to mill starred home together, having but one loaf of 
bread between them. When they separated they divided the bread equally 
and on the following morning about 3 o'clock Mr. Morris reached home, haVioig 
traveled over 200 miles. During his absence the family had nothing to eat 
except potatoes, and on the morning of their father's return the children 
refused to get up when called for breakfast, supposing that it would consist 
of the same everlasting potatoes they had been eating morning, noon and 



AND SHOKT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 301 

night. They did not know their father had returned with a load of flour. 
AVhen informed that they had hot biscuits for breakfast they got up in a 
hurry. It was just daybreak when the family sat down to this luxurious meal, 
but they had hardly started to eat when a rap was heard at the door. It was 
Mr. Norton, who came over to borrow a sack of flour. He was accommodated, 
and Mr. Morris sat down to resume his meal when Smith and Fulton appeared 
on the scene, each after some flour. 

E. P. Savage, now governor of the state, came to Sargent in 1879, 
also Charles Austin, Bion Darling, Daniel Myers, Simeon Perrin, C. Black- 
man and L. F. Grooms. In the spring of 1879 came William Laughlin, I. C. 
Tobias, James Haggerty, William Wilde, George Sherman, William Sherman, 
Henry Fellows, William and James Courtney, David Shaw, Dr. J. L. Good- 
rich, L. W. F. Cole and James and William Stennard. Miss Laura Courtney 
taught the first school in Sargent precinct, with about ten pupils. In August, 
1878, the first Sunday school was organized by a missionary preacher of the 
M. E. Church by the name of WOliams. Rev. Zara Norton was superintend- 
ent, and the attendance was from twelve to seventeen. 



J^iDUBBr ^BHlBm^nt nf ^ax^mt 



B. W. Sillivan. 



The first white man to settle in what is now Sargent precinct, of whom 
we have any record, was Joseph A. Woods, who located in what is now 
known as Wood's park in the spring of 1874. The country at that time must 
have presented a very wild appearance. There was not a human being living 
within twenty miles of Mr. Woods, except possibly a family or two on the 
opposite side of the river near Oak Grove. The next settler to make his home 
in the Middle Loup valley was David S. Groff. Mr. Grofl came from York 
county in the spring of 1876. He and three of his sons entered land adjoining. 
In less than four years Mr. Groff was compelled to herd his cattle in order to 
keep them off the growing crops of adjoining settlers. Job Semler located in 
the valley six miles below Sargent. Job was then a young bachelor. He 
freighted cedar from the Dismal and hauled goods from Grand Island, the 
nearest railroad town. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



303 



An incident which occnn-od in the family of Wilson Dye during the 
winter of 1880 is worth relating. Mr. Dye had gone to Woods' park, five 
miles distant, on some errand, probably to get supplies for his family, which 
consisted of his wife and three small children. While he was gone a terrible 
blizzard came on and he was unable to retiirn home through the blinding 





B. W. SULLIVAN. 



DR. C. H. FENSTERMACHER. 



snow. The pioneers not having much stock as a rule, the Dye family had but 
one cow^ and a calf to care for, and they were kept on a picket rope, no stable 
having yet been built for their accommodation. Mrs. Dye was very much con- 
cerned about her cow, thus exposed to the intense cold and the fury of the 
storm, and she was afraid that the poor animal and her calf would freeze to 
death before morning. Like many another pioneer woman Mrs. Dye was 
equal to almost any kind of an emergency. She just took the cow and her 
calf into the house, which consisted of a single room 10 by 24, and kept them 
there until the storm abated. 

At this time there were six families living in what is now school district 
No. 6: D. S. Groff, Patrick Sullivan, Wilson Dye, John and Andy Mack and 
Mrs. Semler. The bachelors were Job Semler, Morris McDonald and J. D. 
Finley, the latter being a widower, but classed among the bachelors for con- 
venience. Four more families came into the neighborhood that fall: M. H. 
SiUivan, A. E. Bruner, George Gillett and Lyman Wolcott. Mr. Sillivan 
moved into a little house on the northeast corner of what is now Mr. Nicolai's 



304 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



farm, then owned by a Mr. Blackman, a Loup City lawyer, who held it as a 
timber claim. Mr. Bruner went into J. 7), Finley's house, which was half 
duj?out, half log-. Mr. Gillett aud Mr. \^'olcott, having no place in which to 
move, were compelled to build suuill sod honses. 




Mr. J. A. Woods, first settler iu Woods' Park, Middle Loup River. 

George Sherman was postmaster, and what little mail we got came once 
a week. The nearest grist mill was twenty miles away, called Rocky Ford 
mill, and was located near where Burwell now stands. The snow was so 
deep that it was almost impossible to get through it with a team. Early in 
January, John Mack undertook to go to mill with an ox team. He succeeded 
in getting about two and a half miles from home, and not being very warmly 
clothed, with a pair of split leather boots and no overshoes, he froze his feet 
so badly that he was compelled to return home. He had to wear grain sacks 
wrapped around his feet all winter. 

When the flour was all used up coffee mills were brought into requisition 
to grind wheat, and bread was obtained for weeks at a time by this laborious 
process by many a family, who were thankful that they had the wheat to 
grind. It was quite a common thing to hear people speak of being snowed in. 
During that winter the dugouts were often entirely buried in the snow and the 
occupants had to dig their way out frequently. 

In 1881 M. H. Sillivan raised forty bushels of corn to the acre without 
any cultivation. Most of the corn was planted by hand in those days, as corn 
planters were unknown in the community. Watermelons, muskmelons and 
squashes were raised in great abundance on the sod. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



305 




First Engine into Sargent, Oct. 25, 1899. 



Our first school was taught by Mrs. William E. Sillivan, it being a three 
months' term subscription school, |1 per month for each pupil, I believe. The 
school was kept in a little sod house formerly occupied by a family, dimensions 
about 12 by 16 feet. The text books were some old ones that had been brought 
from the East. The seats were home-made benches without backs. The 
writer imagines this was about as rude a place in which to keep school as 
some of the log school houses our grandfathers and grandmothers used to 
speak about. School district No. 36 has built two school houses since then, 
the present one being a good frame building costing over |500, including fur- 
niture. The school children have kept pace with the improvements, especially 
in numbers, having increased from about fifteen to over fifty. The following 
five or six years were spent by the settlers in improving their homesteads. 

The writer now wishes to give a little railroad history. In the fall of 1882 
the Union Pacific completed its line from St. Paul to North Loup, in Valley 
€ounty, which is about forty miles from Sargent. About the latter part of 



306 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

1886 it was completed to Ord. In 1887 the B. & M. built north from Central 
City to Palmer, from which point one branch extended to Burwell via Ord, 
and the other to St. Paul, Loup City and Arcadia. The same year the latter 
branch was graded through Sargent almost to Brewster, forty miles above 
Sargent. Our people were jubilant, thinking they were going to get a railroad 
at once. But they were disappointed. They had to wait for twelve years 
before the road was completed to Sargent. During the winter and spring 
of 1899 petitions were sent in to the company and such a showing made of 
our resources that the road was finished to Sargent, the first train running 
into the village about October 25, 1899. It was welcomed with boundless joy 
by the people, many of whom had lived for twenty years waiting and longing 
for the great event which would place them in close connection with the rest 
of the world. 



jftn^BliiiD, 



The little village of Anselmo stands on the land taken in 1884-5 by M. E. 
Foster, Harvey Said and Walter Scott. In the winter of 1885-6 the B. & M. 
railroad surveyed a line of railway from Grand Island to the Black Hills and 
Anselmo was platted in the fall of 1886, the railroad reaching this point a few 
weeks later. Henry Kelley erected the first building in the village, to be 
used as a drug store, before the town was platted. The next man to put up a 
business building was C. F. Graves, to be used as a grocery store. Dorr 
Heffleman was already on the ground, located in a tent, in which he conducted 
a bank while his building was in course of erection, afterwards known as the 
First Bank of Anselmo. This is probably the only bank in Nebraska that 
was carried on in a tent. The safe was hauled overland from Westerville, 
where Mr. Heffleman was doing business before he removed to Anselmo. Mr. 
Heftieman was also agent for the Lincoln Land Company for Anselmo. While 
the town was being built Harvey Said conducted a hotel in a sod building half 
a mile south of town, which was filled to overflowing. The first hotel in the 
new town was built by Thomas Flood. Weander Bros, conducted the first 
general store in a temporary building while Mrs. Heffleman was erecting a 
permanent store building for them, which was completed and occupied about 
December, 1886. After these came E. C. Gibbs, C. D. Pelham, H. Smith, T. 
R. Brayton, Dr. Stack, J. H. Brandebury and others. Dr. Hamilton came 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



307 



soon with a drug store. The tii'sst newspaper, the Anselmo Sun, was moved 
from Dale in the fall of 1886 and printed in a tent by Isaac Meseraull. The 
postoffice was established in the fall of 1886, with Joe Michael as postmaster, 
and had a temporary mail service from Keota. Butch. Calvert, the pioneer 
meat man, came about the same time. The first lumber yard opened up for 
business with a stock that was hauled from Plum Creek on one wagon. It 





GEO. WILLIAMS. 



J. W. HAHBEUT, Pliotograplier. 



was unloaded on a spot that was supposed to be the future townsite, but when 
the town was platted the lumber was not in it. Ira Foster was employed to 
move it to the town and a pretentious sign was set announcing the fact that 
the National Lumber Company was open for business. The sign, however, 
bad used up so much of the stock that there was but little left upon which 
to do business. When the lumber company got around to do business (Dierks 
Bros.) Kloman & Arnold established their bank in the fall of 1886. The 
Methodist church was located on the present site in 1887. First school in 
the village was held in this church until the present school house was built 
in 1888. The first elevator was put up in the fall of 1887 by White & Glade 
of Crete, Nebraska, and Harvey Said was manager. The Anselmo flouring 
mill was brought here from Missouri by John Jessen and afterwards sold to 
Kloman & Arnold, who remodeled it. The plant is now owned by Isaac Clark 
& Co., Samuel Bowman manager. 

The present business men of Anselmo are as follows: H. K. Atkins, gen- 
eral merchandise; Kirk Elder, livery; H. Kelley, druggist and postmaster; 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



300 



Charles Smith, hardware and harness; George Williams, general store; J. W. 
Harbert, photographer; W. P. Wilson, windmills and well maker; Mrs. E. C. 
Tupper, hotel; Moore Bros., saloon; Dr. Williams; J. W. Crist, hotel; J. B. 
Warren, blacksmith; Jacqnot & Co., elevator; Wilson Bros., elevator; W. 
Warren & Co., general merchandise; T. Kussell, restaurant. The B. & M. rail- 
road have a watering station and coal sheds at this point. 




A Typical Dugout. 

Ira C. Ong was the tirst settler in Victoria township, locating four miles 
west of the present site of the village of Anselmo in the summer of 1879. The 
next settler was James Lindle3% who came in the fall of 1880. Henry Heiny 
and Thomas B. Russell were the next to locate west of Anselmo, which they 
did in 1883, moving their families the year following. In the fall of 1883 came 
Joseph and Alvin Adkins, with their brothers, Morris, John and Calvin, and 
Granville Dishman, a brother-in-law, and William M. Dixon, who all took 
claims in the vicinity. Ira and Rolla Foster, Daniel B. Allen and Samuel 
Ryan came in the spring of 1884, with AYalter Scott a little later the same 
year, and Harvey Said in 1885. Nearly all of these settlers made the home of 
James Lindley their headquarters until they got their own buildings ready 
to live in. 

James Lindley came to Custer county in August, 1880, locating upon the 
northwest quarter of section 17, township 19, range 22, where he is still 
living. He arrived at New Helena, April 22nd, with 25 cents of his money left 
upon which to commence business in the wilderness. He was elected justice 
of the peace in 1881 and held the office six years. He relates a few incidents 



310 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



which occurred while administering justice in these early days that may not 
be out of place here. Upon one occasion two Irishmen had some difficulty 
about the boundary line between their claims and the result was a collision. 
The one who came out second best in the row came to Mr. Lindley to get 
justice, his face covered with blood and his nose in a very demoralized condi- 
tion. The justice issued a warrant for the arrest of his antagonist, handed it 
to him and directed him to the home of the constable. In due time the constable 
appeared at the home of the justice with both of the men. After reading 
the complaint the defendant pleaded not guilty, and a trial was had without 
counsel or witnesses, each man pleading his own case. The plaintiff alleged 
that defendant had come to his place and commenced the row. The defendant 
promptly denied that he had commenced the row, but admitted that he had 
gone to the plaintiff's house, and said that the plaintiif had attacked him 
with a pitchfork. The plaintiff then turned toward the defendant, laid his 
index finger on his nose and asked: 

"How was that done?'- 
"Ye did it yerself whin I was takin' the pitchfork away from ye," replied 
the defendant. 

The plaintiff then offered his nose in evidence by turning to the court and 
saying: ''The court knows very well that hose was chawed.'' 

And sure enough it had that appearance, and well chewed at that. The 
plaintiff was fined |1 and costs and the two departed together apparently 
satisfied with the result of the suit. Upon another occasion Mr. Lindley had 
occasion to go to the sod house of three bachelors, when one of them in a 
joking mood asked him how much he would charge him to perform the 
marriage ceremony. Not being rushed with business of that sort, Mr. Lindley 
replied that he would do it for half price. The second bachelor then spoke up 
and wanted to know how much the justice would charge to marry him. The 
accommodating justice said he would marry him free. Then the third bach- 
elor was anxious to know what the charge for marrying him would be. 
'^O, I'll marry you for nothing, and board you and your wife free for a week," 
laughingly replied Mr. Lindley. The first two never called upon Mr. Lindley 
to assist them into wedlock, but not very long afterwards number three ap- 
peared with a fair maiden and insisted that the justice fulfill his agreement, 
which Mr. Lindley did, and the groom beirig of a generous disposition, boarded 
with the justice two weeks instead of one. From the small capital with which 
Mr. Lindley commenced business in Custer county he has accumulated an 
independence. He is the owner of 1.580 acres of land. 600 under cultivation, 
twentv acres of trees and all free from incumbrance. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA 



3 11 



IKiUtnit jof Uriuilt) anti (Eapfur^ Df BiiIjannaiL 



One day shortly before S o'clock a. m. four strange horsemen rode into 
the village of Sargent. Meeting Bob McGregor, they represented that they 
were from Brown county in search of two boys who had accidentally set the 
prairie on fire, doing a lot of damage, and who, in order to escape the wrath 
of their father, had supposedly taken his team and made their escape to parts 




I30HANNAN. 



unknown. He informed them that he had seen nothing of the boys, but that 
two men on horseback had passed through town about two hours before. This 
information appeared to satisfy the men, and without further delay they fol- 
lowed in the wake of the horsemen referred to by McGregor. They found the 
two men had passed the night at Bi Darling's old house about a mile west 
of the village, who evidently did not know they were being so closely fol- 
lowed, as, after crossing the Middle Loup river they stopped at Whipple's 
ranch and played a game of croquet. They then took their direction and 
leisurely rode away, little dreaming that four pursuers were hot on their trail 
and lessening the distance between them every minute. They struck Clear 
creek at Lone Tree and rode up to Elias Mottinger's house. No one being 



312 PIONEEE HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

at home, Ihey go in, western fashion, and help themselves to such eatables 
as they can find. The wind is blowing a gale from the south, and as they 
emerge from Mottinger's house to proceed on their way they do not observe 
four horsemen approaching them from a distance. The four horsemen, how- 
ever, have sighted their game, and galloping their horses down a hill into a 
canon to be out of view, are closing in on the fugitives as fast as possible. One 
of the thieves does not appear to be armed, and the other has his gun strapped 
to his saddle. They had barely mounted to resume their journey when two 
of their pursuers dashed up, one in front, and the other in the rear. Harris, 
the man in front, shouts: ''Throw up your hands!" Arnold, the man with 
the Winchester, throws up one of his hands with a revolver in it, and his 
revolver and another in the hand of Harris both speak at the same instant; 
but Harris gets in his second shot too quick for Arnold, whose weapon drops 
from his nerveless hand to the ground. By this time the horse had carried 
Arnold quite a distance from where the shooting commenced, and in a few 
moments he is alongside his companion, who immediately bends down and 
begins to unstrap Arnold's Winchester as they both gallop along side by side, 
closely followed by the now thoroughly alarmed vigilantes. Davis is the 
nearer to the two men, but his revolver is empty. He sees that the Win- 
chester will soon be leveled at him, and dashing up beside the man, he thrusts 
his empty revolver in his face and thunders out: "Put up your hands or I'll 
blow the top of your head off!" The fellow not knowing Davis' weapon is 
harmless, obeys. Arnold falls from his horse and the other is bound. The 
other two vigilantes soon arrive on the scene and it is discovered that Harris 
has been shot through the top of his shoulder, while another bullet grazed his 
temple. It appeared later that Harris had shot Arnold twice through the 
body, and that any one of his three shots would have proven fatal. 

The vigilantes returned to Sargent with their prisoner, leaving Arnold 
where he fell, weltering in his blood, where he was found by Milton Parkhurst 
and James Chambers at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, dead. They also 
found his revolver where it had dropped from Ms hand, two of its chambers 
empty. Mr. Parkhurst, a justice of the peace, sent a man to Broken Bow to 
notify Sheriff Penn. In the meantime the vigilantes had reached Sargent with 
their prisoner, who was identified by McGregor as one of the men who had 
ridden through town that morning. He inquired what they had done with 
the other man. 

"O, we left him on the prairie over by Broken Bow." 

They were about to go on their way with the prisoner, when WiUiam 
Sherman, Joe Thomas, J. H. Brandeburj^, George Walker, deputy sheriff, and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 313 

Others demanded an explanation, as they claimed to be hunting boys in the 
morning-. The vigilantes replied that they supposed they were pursuing two 
boys, and that they did not know that Arnold had broken out of the jail at 
Valentine until they discovered him to be one of the fugitives The Sargent 
committee informed the two men that it appeared to be a serious matter, and 
that they would not be allowed to leave town until an inquest had been held 
upon the body of Arnold. Harris replied with an oath that the citizens had 
no authority to hold them, and that they would burn powder before they 
would stay. 

"You fellows may do business that way up in Brown county," said Joe 
Thomas, "but we are partially civilized in Custer county, and have a different 
way of doing things. You will have to stand a trial, and if you are all right 
you will be none the worse for staying with us for a while." 

J. H. Erandebury, coroner, George Walker and Davis went after Arnold's 
body, while Harris submitted to have his wounds attended to by Dr. Way- 
nick. The other two vigilantes were permitted tO' go, as even the prisoner 
said they had no hand in the shooting. The coroner arrived with the body 
about 2 o'clock the next morning, and an inquest was held which resulted in 
a verdict of shooting in self-defense. The two men were taken to Broken 
Bow, however, with the prisoner, by Sheriff Penn, who soon discovered that 
the prisoner was an outlaw by the name of Bohannan, who was wanted by two 
sheriffs, who came near killing each other shortly afterwards in a quarrel as 
to which was to have him. Penn turned the prisoner over to his captors, 
who took him back to Brown county, receiving a reward of |100. He was con- 
victed of cattle stealing and sent to the penitentiary for twelve years. 

Coroner Brandebury telegraphed to the chief of police of Lincoln to see 
Arnold's mother and sister and ascertain whether they desired to have the 
body shipped to Lincoln or buried in Custer county. The old lady replied: 
"Well, I s'pose he might jest as well be buried up thar and save expenses," 
while the devoted sister remarked : "I told Joe he'd git shot if he didn't quit 
his cattle rustlin'." And so Joe Arnold, the cattle thief, was laid away be- 
neath the buffalo sod of Custer county, and there were no mourners at his 
funeral. 



314 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



GinTililc Jail in a I^BBp Will 



The depth to water on the table lands of Custer county entailed many 
hardships on the early settlers. None of them had the means to sink modern 
wells to such a depth, and had consequently to resort to the laborious method 
of hauling water in barrels from the lower lands, often having to go as far 
as six miles for it. Some of the settlers on the tables dug wells from 200 to 
300 feet in depth and hauled water out of them by horse power. The exist- 
ence of these fearful holes in the ground, mostly without curbing, resulted in 
many accidents, some of which will be found described in other parts of 
this work. In the fall of 1895 F. W. Carlin fell into a well 143 feet deep, 
and he thus describes the manner in which he climbed out in the Custer 
County Beacon of September 5th of that year: 

While driving through the country about fifteen miles northwest of 
Broken Bow on the evening of August 14th, it became quite dark and I found 
1 had taken the wrong track and driven up to some old sod building. I turned 
around and started down what looked to me like a good road into the draw, 
when one of my horses seemed to step down into a place. I got out of the 
wagon and started along side of the team to be sure that the road was all 
right, when without a moment's notice I became aware of the fact that I had 
stepped into an old well and was going down like a shot out of a gun. 

I placed my feet close together, stretched my arms straight over my head 
and said, ''Oh God, have mercy on me!" and I honestly believe that saved 
my life, but I went down, down, and it seemed to me I would never reach the 
bottom. The further I went, the faster I went and never seemed to touch 
the sides at all. 

I supposed of course, it would kill me when I struck the bottom, but God 
had heard my prayer. I struck in the mud and water which completely 
covered me over. I was considerably stunned, but was able to straighten up 
and get my head above the water. I scrambled around and finally extracted 
my legs from the mud, and finally stood on my feet in the water which came 
just up to my arms. It was very cold, and I tried a number of times to get out 
of the water only to fall back. The curbing was somewhat slimy. I finally 
managed to break off a small piece from the curbiug and found a crack in 
which I managed to fasten it into and perched myself upon it until morning. 
While sitting there I heard my team running away. In them Avas my only 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 315 

hopes of rescue. For I was aware of the fact that I was at least a mile and 
a half from the nearest house, and that no one knew that I was there. 

There I sat till morning. It was about nine o'clock when I fell in, and I 
was drenched with water and plastered with mud. 

The only serious injury I received was a badly sprained ankle, which gave 
me great pain. I also had a sore place on my back, which I found a number 
of days afterwards to be a broken rib. As soon as daylight appeared, I began 
to look around and take in the situation. In looking up it seemed to me at 
least 100 feet to the top. But I learned afterwards that it was exactly 143 
feet deep. 

It was curbed in places with curbing about three feet square. There 
would be a place curbed for about from six to sixteen feet and then there 
would be a place that was not curbed at all. The curbing was perfectly tight, 
not a crack between them that I could get my fingers into, and covered with a 
slimy mud. I at once concluded that my only chance for rescue was my knife, 
if it had not fallen out of my pocket while floundering in the mud, so thrusting 
my hand into my pocket, there it was, and a good one too. I took it and began 
cutting foot holes in the sides of the curbing; it was verj' slow but sure. I 
never went back a foot after I had gained it. When I would get to the top of 
a curbing, I took the boards that I had cut out and made me a seat in one 
corner, and in this way I think I got up about fifty feet the first day. Sometime 
in the afternoon I came to a curbing which I thought I could not get through; 
it was of solid 1 bj' G boards closeh* fitted together and not less than sixteen 
feet to the top of it. So I made mjself a good seat, fixing m3'self as comfort- 
able as possible. I concluded that I must stay here and await assistance, or 
die there. 

I stayed there all the next night and slept one-half of the time, for the 
night did not seem very long. I w ould have been quite comfortable had I not 
been so wet and cold, and my feet pained me terribly, which was the greatest 
drawback. I had to do most of my climbing on one foot. 

I remained at that point the greater part of the next forenoon, calling 
often for help. One thing was in my favor; I was neither hungry nor thirsty. 
I began to give up all hopes. I thought of my wife and little boy, who were 
always so glad to see me when I came home from a trip. I thought how the 
little fellow would never see his papa or run to meet him when he returned 
home again. That was too great. I made up my mind that I would get out or 
die in the attempt. So I took a piece of board and put some sand on it and 
got the point of my knife good and sharp and began cutting away the curb- 
ing and making one foot hole after another. I cut, climbing higher and higher 



316 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

and was at last on top of the curbing. From there I would have been com- 
fortable if my feet had not hurt me so badly. But I cut holes in the clay for 
my hands and feet with my knife and finally I got within about sixteen feet 
of the top. Eight there I had the worst hindrance I had met yet. It was a 
round curbing four feet high and perfectly smooth on the inside. It was 
washed out around it until it was only held from dropping by a little peg on 
one side. I knew if I tried to go up through it, it was pretty sure to break 
loose and go to the bottom with me. So my only chance was to go up between 
the curb and the wall. This I was fortunate in doing. By going to work and 
digging awaj' the wall, in half an hour I had a hole large enough to let me 
pass through. After that it was but a short job to reach the top, which I 
did, and lay for some time exhausted. 

I then knelt down and thanked Almighty God for sparing my life, as I 
had prayed for him to do, time and again during the past two days and nights 
that I had been in the well. 

But my trouble was not at an end yet. I ,was one and a half miles from 
a house wdth a foot I could not step on. I cut some large weeds and made 
out to hobble and crawl to the road, about forty rods distant, and there I lay 
until nearly sundown looking for a team which never came. After getting 
out in the sun, I became very thirsty. At last I gave up looking for any one 
and started to crawl on my hands and knees to find a house, but I soon gave 
out and had to lie out another night. In the morning I felt somewhat better. 
Starting out again I finally arrived at the home of Charles Francis just at 
daylight, where I was given food and drink, after being without for two days 
and three nights. 

My team was found the next day after I fell in the well by a man by the 
name of Green wdth the doubletrees and neck yoke attached to them. To Mr. 
Green great credit is due. He took them to a justice of the peace, filed an 
estray notice and turned them into the pasture. Thus complying with the law 
and taking away the last chance for being discovered. 

Let this be a warning to all who may read it to fill up all the old wells in 
their neighborhood, for we know^ not who the next may be. Also remember 
to trust in God, for he can save when no one else can. No one could have 
taken the fall that I did and get out alive, without the aid of a Higher Power 
than theirs. 

mmmm^m 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



317 



BeifBrn €alili\ 



James Whitehead. 



In being called upon to furnish some facts relative to the early settlement 
of Custer county I shall confiue myself principally to the locality in which 1 
first made settlement. This will take me back to a period beginning seven- 
teen years ago. Up to 1880 cattle men had undisputed possession of thous- 




JAMES WHITEHEAD. 



ands of acres of land that in the three years following its occupancy yielded 
an average of twenty bushels of wheat per acre. But the settler came, and 
he came to stay. Many were veterans of the Civil War, were in the prime of 
vigorous manhood, and held life as cheap and could shoot as straight as the 
dare-devil cowboy, and not unfrequently "got the drop" on those who had 
heretofore boasted of having things pretty much their own way. Thus, in 
part, the problem of settlement had become adjusted and the way made easy 
for those who in 1883-84 were pioneers in the settlement of the southwestern 
part of Custer county. 



318 PIONEER H^^TORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

The way of appioach. in those davs, was from Kearney along the Wood 
river A'alley to its confluence with the South Loup at a point near the present 
site of Callawa}'. Further west were Plum Creek and Cozad, points on the 
line of the Union Pacific; the former about thirty miles from the south line of 
Ouster; the latter fifteen miles nearer. At this point there was a gently un- 
dulating tract of country then known far and near as "Buffalo Table," located 
in township thirteen and fourteen, ranges twenty-two and twenty-three, be- 
ing within the twenty mile limit, every odd numbered section of this entire 
table land w^as included in the grant of the Union Pacific. Inviting as it was 
with its deep, rich soil, none of its lands were appropriated until the latter 
part of 1883. The first entry made in this locality was by no less a personage 
than Patrick Egan of Lincoln. It was on section thirty-four, township four- 
teen, range twenty-three. No breaking being done the first year, by contest 
it passed into the hands of Ernest Schneider. The first homestead entries 
made were by Harvey Stockham and Otto Jaster, November 14, 1883, and 
by Charles B. Drum, December 13th, which comprised all entries made dur- 
ing that year. February 11, 1884, James Whitehead made homestead entry 
for lands adjoining Charles Drum, and with the opening spring, Ernest Schnei- 
der, John Helmuth, Charles W. Kedfern and his son Frank, with Henry, Chris. 
and John Miller, appeared upon the scene, selected and settled upon their 
lands and immediately begun improvements. 

It was the purpose of the writer to secure by purchase a half section of 
railroad land adjoining, or as near as possible to his homestead; this he sup- 
posed he had done, but on reaching his home in Wisconsin was apprised by 
Hon. J. H, MacCoU of Plum Creek, agent for the railroad company, that the 
lands selected by him had passed into other hands. This necessitated his im- 
mediate return to Nebraska. Accompanied by J. A. Mahaffy and George 
Healy we reached Plum Creek about the 10th of March. The morning follow- 
ing our arrival we started for the table lands accompanied by Mr. Huey, sur- 
veyor of Dawson county. It was after night when we reached the divide. The 
weather, which had been warm, had turned cold and snow began to fall. It 
had been our intention to pass the night upon the prairie and we had come 
prepared, bringing robes, blankets and a suj^ply of provisions to last us several 
days. The increasing cold and falling snow which Mr. Huey, who was an "old 
timer," assured us might develop into a regular blizzard, made the outlook 
anything but encouraging. After traveling some distance in the darkness we 
saw a glimmering light and heard the barking of a dog; this led us to the 
claim of Ernest Schneider. Though he had arrived but a day or two before, 
he had a frame dwelling partly erected, which with his own and other fami 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA, 319 

lies, and belated travelers like ourselves, seemed lull to overtlowiuji; uotwitb- 
standing this we received a hearty welcome. The building was but partly 
roofed and through the night the snow descended ui)on those who stretched 
themselves upon the floor and sought rest and forgetfulness of discomforts in 
sleep. Beneath a pile of blankets in one corner of the room that was better 
protected from the storm, lay the sick wife of our host. She never recovered, 
but died shortly after and was buried near by; the first death and burial that 
marked the early settlement of that vicinity. In addition to those I have 
named, William Greenfield, Joe Malsou, Ezra Wright, R. E. Williams, J. W. 
Bissell, John Matz, William Gibson, Chris. Helmuth, the Wysharts. were 
pioneer settlers of the table or its environments, followed in time by John 
McGuigan and the Armours, also Joe Gilmore, A. P. Cox, Oliver Whitehead, 
Willis Hines, the Langes, David and William Bain, John Runcie and John 
Berwick. The all-absorbing question that presented itself to every settler 
was water, and how it might be obtained. Away to the east in Wood river 
valley. Van Antwerp and Thurman had wells, but they were from six to ten 
miles distant; there were none nearer and the combined means of all was not 
sufficient to put one down. To meet this exigency cisterns were dug on the 
edge of draws or bordering lagoons, the supply depending upon the rainfall 
and their ability to secure and conserve it. All that was met, endured and 
overcome, the difficulties and obstacles to success in the way of those early 
settlers, will never be known or written. Water there was in abundance; the 
best, purest and most wholesome that could slake the thirst and gladden the 
heart of man or beast, but it was from four to five hundred feet below the 
surface and the means of securing it an unsolved problem. 

Among those who had come into this locality were two men, Mr. Edward 
Crewdson, a wealthy Englishman who had purchased three sections of rail- 
road laud and was engaged in stock raising, and Mr. Gregory J. Campau of 
Detroit, who had purchased a large tract of land and was also a man of con- 
siderable means. These men put down hydraulic wells and secured a never 
failing and abundant supply of water to which the settler had free access. 
The last named even put down a large cistern into which a stream of water 
was pumped continuously for the use and accommodation of those who had 
no other means of securing the life-giving beverage. On several occasions Mr. 
Crewdson deprived his cattle of the water they craved in order that the wants 
of his neighbors might first be satisfied. These men have passed away; but 
monuments have been raised to perpetuate the deeds and memory of many 
whose claims to remembrance were not so well founded. But their names are 



320 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

cherished and their unselfish generosity remembered by those whose grati- 
tude could alone compensate for their kindness. 

We ascertained that we were included in school district number three, 
which extended to the Dawson county line, six miles to the south, and to a 
point several miles north of the present site of Callaway, while the school 
house was some fifteen miles distant, in what was known as ''Sand Valley." 
During the fall of 1885 we took steps to organize a new district. In this enter- 
prise Mr. Redfern rendered most efficient aid. As indicating the character 
and intelligence of the people, also the progress made in the organization of 
school districts at that early day, our district was designated as No. 113. 
The school house was built of sod, was comfortable and commodious; the 
people contributed the work and Mr. Crewdson generously furnished the lum- 
ber and all material that entered into its construction, which he delivered 
free upon the ground. The first officers elected were C. W. Redfern, director, 
Chris. Miller, moderator, and James Whitehead, treasurer. Miss Louisa Corn- 
ish (now Mrs. Johnson of Lodi) was the first teacher and proved a most capa- 
ble and efficient instructor. Although most of us had held membership in dif- 
ferent churches in our former homes, no minister of any denomination had 
come among us, and no preaching services had been held in that vicinity. 
With the erection of a schoolhouse we were anxious to make amends for this 
apparent neglect and begin life aright in our new home. Mr. Crewdson, who 
was an Episcopalian, assured us he had a man in mind that could be secured, 
and soon thereafter services were announced with Rev. L. G. Brooker, "The 
Cow Boy Preacher," officiating; owing to reports that had reached us relative 
to the man's past, great interest was attached to this first sermon. The Rev. 
Brooker, or "Brooker," as he was commonly called, was a character as unique, 
and possessed a personality as striking as in their day did Lorenzo Doav or 
Peter Cartwright. He ow^ned and lived upon a farm in Platte valley, twenty- 
two miles to the south, had been converted some four years before and be- 
came so strongly imbued with the conviction that he was "divinely called" to 
preach that he could find neither rest nor peace until he had consecrated him- 
self to the ministry. Ordained by the Evangelical Association, he had been 
engaged in the work about three years when in the fall of 1885 he preached 
his first sermon on Buffalo Table. It was the first religious service or meeting 
some who were there had attended in two years. His efforts were w^ell re- 
ceived and in due time he made fortnightly appointments which in connection 
with other points he continued to fill for three years. As an evangelist and 
organizer this unlettered Bonarges had but few equals, and measured by re- 
sults he attained a success denied to manv whose entire life had been devoted 



AND SHORT SKKTCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 321 

to the study of rhetoiic and th('(do<iy. He was a man of tine ])li_vsi(iu('; about 
thirty-tivo years of ago and tliou<;li slondoi- in build possessed of wonderful en- 
durance and }^reat }»hyslcal sti-enjj;tli. H\ a brother nunister he was pro- 
nounced '"a conijtound bundh' of eneijiy." We liave known him in the early 
winter to drive from his home to till a foicnoon appointment at Hedferu 
schoolhouse, and without stopping; to eat oi- fet'd his team j)ush on to Sand 
VaUey. fifteen miles, f(u- afteinoon, and from thenee across the Loup seven 
miles further to Triumjih schoolhouse for evening service, having in many in- 
stances eaten nothing from early morning until his day's work was ended. His 
field of labor was known and designated by the conference as "Custer Mis- 
sion." When he (entered upon this held his church had not a single member, 
but as evidencing his z(^al and earnestness, in eighteen months he had re- 
ceived into membership one hundred and hfty persons and built and dedicated 
free from debt, two frame churches. During that time and apart from his 
personal contributions he received the munificent sum of fifteen dollars for 
his labors. He remained and had charge of this mission for nearly four years; 
has since presided over churches in Kearney and Grand Island, his ministra- 
tions being invariably attended b}' his old-time success. I have devoted this 
space to him for the reason that he entered so largely into the life and ex- 
periences of those times; believing also that in the settlement of this portion 
of the county the "cowboy preacher" had a work to do, wiiich all things con- 
sidered he performed faithfully and well. As largeh' due to his efforts in 
organizing and laying the foundation and the high character of his ministerial 
successors, who were repectively Reverends Dillow, Maze, Kirkpatrick. (Jill, 
Devol and AA'olford, the following named persons have entered the ministry 
and been assigned to duty in other fields, viz: David Bain, James Runcie, 
Frank Drum and John Clark. I have heretofore referred to this locality as 
"RulTalo Table," the name by which it is know^n to the hunters and pioneers 
of other localities. With the establishment of a postoffice in the fall of 1884. 
known and designated upon the maps as Redfern, it thenceforth became 
known by that name. The first postmaster was C. W. Redfern, followed by 
Charles Drum and William (Jibson. Immediately following their settlement 
Redfern and Drum formed a partnership and engaged in the well business. 
Being men of resource and mechanical skill they were successful from the 
start. The hauling of water in bariels which occupied so much of the early 
settlers' time was thus virtually biought to an end. In ISJK) Schneider. Ilel- 
muth, Redfern, Miller and Williams secui-ed wells, varying in depth from 404 
to 400 feet. 

No event that occurred in those early days was so impressive and touch- 



322 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

ingly pathetic as the circumstances that surrounded the death and burial of 
Mrs. Campau. Born and raised in the city of Detroit, she was twenty years 
her husband's junior. She had enjoyed social and educational advantages un- 
known to those she met and whose acquaintance she formed in her frontier 
home; this, however, was never manifested towards the humblest of her neigh- 
bors, to whom by her kindly acts and friendly ways she becaiiie endeared. 
Taken suddenly ill, her sickness was known to few until her death was an- 
nounced. On the day fixed for the funeral it seemed as if the entire commu- 
nity had assembled for miles around. Their dwelling, then the best farm 
house in the county, was on the southern slope of the table land and looked 
forth upon a beautiful valley along which lay the road that led to Lexington. 
On that sloping hillside, but a few feet from the porch, they had prepared 
her grave, and when her coffined remains had been lowered, from among the 
gathered mourners the husband and father advanced, and with raised hand 
as if to command attention, paid in deep, tender tones a most touching tribute 
to the worth and excellence of the departed. "I have known the one," he 
remarked, ''whose open grave we stand beside, from childhood. She was not 
in any sense a society woman, but one whose heart was in her home, whose 
solicitude was for her family," concluding in tremulous tones, "but her work 
on earth is accomplished, her mission is fulfilled; I wish that I were lying 
beside her." And there he now does rest, the summons coming some two or 
three years later. Of the entire family numbering nine souls, but two remain ; 
the balance are dead and scattered. Frank and Gabriel occupy the old home, 
faithful guardians of their parents' remains; determined that their resting 
place shall not pass into strangers' hands. In those grass-covered mounds, by 
daily contact, they have a constant and ever present reminder of the changes 
and mutations time, merciless and unrelenting, has brought to them. 

The sod schoolhouse having served its day and purpose has been sup- 
planted by a frame structure of increased dimensions. Meeting with friends 
and former neighbors on the occasion of "Children's Day" last summer, we 
witnessed the assembling of one hundred and sixty people who participated 
in and by their presence encouraged exercises that marked an era of growth 
and prosperity that spoke volumes for the character and intelligence of the 
community. The children of those days have grown to manhood and woman- 
hood; some of them still linger at the old home, while others have married 
and in homes of their own are seeking to extract from life all of joy and hap- 
piness it may contain. The pioneers themselves are growing old, but in all 
that marks the march of civilization, to which they contributed and their 
hands have helped to build, they have erected monuments that will endure, 
and by which their memory will be perpetuated when the marble that marks 
their resting place shall have crumbled to decay. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA 



323 



Orarly ^Btfkr^ W2sl iif Bnifunt Bhuk 



The first settlers between the towns of Broken Bow, Merna and CaUaway, 
were J. D, Beam, who settled about five miles northwest of Broken Bow, and 
C. H. Jeffords, who settled about five miles west of that city, in the spring of 
1880. To show the innocence and inexperience of these two bachelors, who 
came into this country in a farm wagon which contained all of their pos- 





E. JEFFORDS. 



MRS. E. JEFFORDS. 



sessions, and which was drawn by a yoke of oxen, we will tell a little story 
at their expense. As they began to leave the settlements on their journey 
west into the wilderness, they thought it would be a fine thing to have fresh 
eggs during the summer, in their new home, and in order to be able to enjoy 
this luxury they struck a bargain with a thrifty housewife for a dozen fine 
young chickens, the flock being shortly afterwards increased by the addition 
of six hens which they got at an astonishing bargain from another house- 
wife along the way. When they arrived near the present site of the city of 
Broken Bow they camped with Wilson Hewitt, and as that kind and accom- 
modating pioneer invited the wayfarers to make their headquarters there un^ 
til they got their claims located, they turned their chickens loose, inviting Mrs. 



324 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



Hewitt out lo iii.si)e('t the flock. Mrs. Hewitt looked tlieni ov(M' with the eye 
of an expei'ieuced housewife and tlu^i fell into such a tit of laughter that the 
boys thought she had gone crazy. When she recovei-ed her composure she 
informed the young jxniltry fanciers that tlieir tiocic consisted of eleven young- 
roosters, one p'lllet and six old hens that had probably come over in Noah's 
ark and that had long since passed the period of theii- usefuhu^ss as layei's of 
eggs. The boys were of couise very much crestfallen as their visions of fresh 
eggs were thus suddenly dashed to the ground, and also \(ny indignant at 
the unfair advantage that had been taken of their ignorance by the women 
who had sold them the chickims. They jiromptly uuide Mrs. Hewitt a present 
of the wlioh^ flock and did not again attemjit to embark in the poultry business 
until after they were nuirried. 

The next settler to locate in the vicinity was H. C. Reyuer with his wife 
and one child. He also imj)orted two mules and one cow, and from the latter 
Mrs. Keyner sui)plied the ^^■hole settlement with butter during the following 
sunnuer, churning it in a half-gallon crock. The baby, I'aul, now a fine young 
man. served as a soldier in the First Nebraska regiment in the Philippine 
islands. These settlers celebrated the Fourth of July, 1880, in a canon south 
of the tal»leland which lies east of Merna, together wtih a number of others 
from the vicinity of Kroken liow, among whom were Wilson Hewitt, C. D. 
Pelham, Moses Lewis and others, with their families. 

Mr. Jeffords located just east of what is known in Broken Bow as the 
West Table, in a section of country known at that time as ir^outh Muddy Flat. 
Among the next settlers in this vicinity were R. M. Longfellow and Sebastian 
Neth. the latter widely known for his energy and business capacity, having 
>"erved the people ably several tinu^s as a member of the county board of super- 
visors. Tlie neighborhood was also favored in the ac(piisition of a couple of 
school teachers from Ohio, named Mary p]. and Agnes A. IMice, but they soon 
ended their career as school teachers and formed partnershi})S with two bach- 
elors, Jett'ords and Brown, and the result of these partnerships is a number of 
young bug eaters who will probably figure in Custer county history long aftcu" 
theii- parents are foigotten. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAY8 IN NKBRASKA. 325 



Qlallauiay JBrDfeafaut CEpiscnpal (EI)iircI;< 



H. H. Aiidicws. 



AN'hile an occasional service Avas lu^ld in Callway b_v tlie missionaiy 
i-esident of Biolcen l>ow, nnder the direction of (lie Ki^lit Reverend (leor^e 
NVortliington, Bislioj) of Nebraska, it was not niitil tlie consecration of Ki<j;ht 
Reverend Anson R. (liaxes, Jannary 1. IS'.MI, and tlie settinp,- aside of tlie 
jurisdiction of the IMatte, that any rei^ular services were held in Callaway. 
Bishop (Iraves visited Callaway May K!, 1S!MI. and arranged for reji^nlar ser- 
vices by Rev. W. S. Sayers, rector at Broken Uow. Under his active enconi'- 
agement and help Holy Trinity Chnrch was erected and the mission bnilt np. 
The chnrch building cost |1.500. and was erected in 1800. To the ceaseless 
energy of Mrs. Georgia Ingram, more than to any other one person, is due the 
credit for the erection of the largest church building in Callaway. Its corner 
stone was laid with due Masonic ceremonies, November 25, 1890, this being 
the first instance in wliicli this symbolic service was held in Custer county. 
The officers present were: M. W. Robert E. French, grand master; R. W. 
Lee. I*, (lillett, (irand (Mistodian, assisted by forty master Masons, local and 
visitors. Broken Bow sent twenty-six Masons. In the furnishing of the 
church many beautiful and useful articles were received from various liberal 
churchmen, among which weie: Silver communion service, by the sons of O. 
M. Carter. Omaha; Holy Bibl(\ Church of the Heavenly Rest. New York; bell, 
John Taylor «& Co.. Laughborough, England; altar linen, altar hangings and 
dossal curtain, beauliful white set. Mrs. (ieorgia Ingram, San Diego. Califor 
nia; purple set, Mrs. (Jraves. wife of the bisho]); gieen set, Ladies* Cuild; 
alms basin, Rev. R. C. Osborn of Platte (N)llegiate Institute; corner stcme. 
cross. Mr. Osboin of Keainey granite wcuks; candlesticks, gilt and silver, 
Arthur Bird; vases. \'. C. (Jurinian. 

The year 18J»;> brought a iinancial ]»auic and a failure of crops. A tornado 
June 1. L^^Dl. threw the church off its fcuiudatiou and injured everything in 
the building. This year of misfortunes the church was moved to a new loca- 
tion, repaired, furnace jtut in and rectory built, necessitating an expimditure 
of |l»;"iO in cash. \\y some strange coincidence the greatest material advance 
fo Holy Trinity Church seems to couu- in the tiuu-s of greatest tiiiancial de- 
pression. The church was ((Uisi-crated free of debt. January 1, 18!)r), and 



326 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



organized as a mission under the rules of tlie bishop of the Platte, July 7, 
1895. The jurisdiction of the Platte was abolished and the jurisdiction of 
Laramie took its place in 1898. Services were held at first once a month, 
sometimes once in two months, but the church had so prospered that since 
1900 regular morning and evening services have been held every Sunday. 
The rector does missionary work along the Kearney & Black Hills railroad 
and around Callaway. The following rectors have had charge of this mission 
under Eight Rev. Anson R. Graves, S. T. D., bishop of Laramie: Rev. W, S 
Sayres, Rev. S. A. Potter, Rev. H. E. Robbins, Rev. Austin F. Morgan, Rev. 
E. P. Chittenden, Ph. D.; Rev. John Powers, Rev. A. E. Osborn, Rev. R. A. 
Russell, Rev. Charles Ferguson, Rev. R. M. Herdman, Rev. J. M. Bates. Num- 
ber of communicants, May 1, 1901, fifty. The present official members of 
the church are: Senior warden, H. H. Andrews; junior warden, George O. 
Benger; clerk, Mrs. Clara Benger; organist. Miss Emily Hollo way; lay reader, 
H, H. Andrews. To the chief shepherd of the flock, Bishop Graves, is due 
chief praise for his good work in this mission, giving it the best of his clergy 
and ever raising funds to improve its property. 

The Ladies' Guild of the P. E. Church was organized by the Right Rev. 
Anson R. Graves at the time of his first visit to Callaway, May 16, 1890. This 
organization was completed May 27, 1890, by the adoption of the by-laws 
and the election of the following officers: President, Mrs. Lydia F. Bird; vice 
president, Mrs. Catherine E. Nixon; secretary, Mrs. Georgia A. Ingram; treas- 
urer, Mr. George S. Smith. The following members were first enrolled: Mrs. 
Lydia F. Bird, Mrs. Anna Tyson, Mrs. Catherine E. Nixon, Mrs. Etta Berg- 
man, Mrs. Georgia A. Ingram, Mrs. Fannie Sherwood, Mrs. Martha Pike, Miss 
Lucy J. Johnston. From this nucleus sprang, not a large, but a very active 
guild, which has been the mainstay of Holy Trinity Church. The history of 
the guild is the history of the church. The guild really was the prime mover in 
building and furnishing the church. It purchased the historical organ, the 
organ that for years was the only one in the town, and which was used on 
every occasion, and which finally, through the liberality of the guild, found a 
resting place within the church, and now dispenses sacred music as sweetly 
as it did secular harmonies in its youth. The guild furnished the seats of the 
ehnrch, tlie communion rail and the altar. It paid for half of the English 
bell and I'aid freight and custom duties on it. The bell was a half gift from 
John Taylor & Co., Laughborough, England. So not only is the church in 
communion with the Church of England, but the congregation assembles 
every Sunday at the ring and call of its English bell. The guild has supported 
in part the rector's salary, paid incidental expenses, sexton and organist, and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 327 

luade up deficiencies in general. During tlie drouglit of 1890 it disbursed need- 
ful articles to the indigent and worthy poor, and the same was true of the 
great drought of lSl)-4. It is the active, working organization of the church, 
rich in good deeds and worth}' of the highest praise. The present officers are: 
President. Mrs. Hattie Andrews; secretary, Mrs. Clara Benger, vice president, 
Mrs. Josephine Phillips; treasurer, Mr. H. H. Andrews. The membership i« 
about twenty. 

Hoh' Trinity fc>unday school includes forty teachers and scholars. Member- 
ship remains about stationary. Superintendent since organization, H. H. 
Andrews. Teachers: Oliver Phillips, Mabel Decker, Emma Conly, Emily 
Holloway, Emih' Brega. 

The Sunday school library was donated by parties in Elizabeth, New Jer- 
sey, and Brooklyn, New York. About half came from Miss Nellie Allan, Cin- 
cinnati, a former teacher in the Sunday school. 



ll}a0DU Qlify. 



M. C. Warrington. 



In the space to which the writer is limited, it is a difficult task to give a 
complete description of the country surrounding Mason City. Neither can we 
give a full detail of pioneer settlement and early historical incidents. We deal 
with these matters only in a general way. 

Mason City, the "Queen City" of the Muddy valley, is located on the Grand 
Island & Wyoming branch of the B. & M. railroad, fifty-seven miles northwest 
of Grand Island, twenty-three miles southeast of Broken Bow% and forty-five 
miles north of Kearney. The location of Mason City, situated as it is almost 
the central part of the southeastern quarter of Custer county, is worthy of the 
attention of all who desire to locate in a town for which not only nature, 
but circumstances, have provided for so abundantly, and one which will un- 
doubtedly make a busy, bustling town of importance. The townsite was lo- 
cated by the Lincoln Land Company in April, 1886. The land on which the 
town now stands was purchased of Nels Anderson and Mrs. George W. Kun- 
yan, IGO acres being secured from each of these parties. About one-half of 
this 320 acres has been platted into lots, the other half being held by the com- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



329 



pauy tor the same juiipose in case the ^lowtli (if the town demands it. The 
slope fi-om the hills to the valley is ^liulual, just sulticient for ^iood drainatie. 
Xoarly all the different branches of business, trades and professions are rep- 
resented here l)y a live and em'r,iietic set of peojile. Tlu^ follo\vin,u is a full list 
of the ditl'ei-ent branches of bnsiness, and those who i'e])resent them: The 
Mason <Mt\- Ilankin.u- Company, with I*. H. Marley picsident. .1. -I. Marh-y vice 






m 


^"^l^^^l 


j^^^VT ^* 




d^j^H 






1 


^K^^^m-'i^ 


%W^ 


HHEi 



M. C. WARRINGTON. 



O. H. MOOMEY AND FAMILY. 



president, and R. B. Walker cashier. In addition to the bankin-' bnsiness, Mr, 
Marley is extenslAely engaged in the real estate bnsiness. The Mason City 
Transcript is the only newspaper published in Mason (Mty. The i)a])er Avas es 
tablished by Martin & Dellinger in June. 1S8(). M. ('. NVarrington, the present 
jiroprietor and editor, has had active control of the jiaper since August, 1880. 
making him the oldest editor in point of service and continuous connection 
w'itli one pajter in Custer county. For sonu^ years ])ast the editor has been 
ably assisted in the publication of the paper by AA'illiam A. Anderson. The 
mercantile bnsiness of Mason City is reiiresented by E. G. Burrows, general 
merchandise; W. C, Elliott, general merchandise; T. J. Wood, general mer- 
chandise; (). H. Moomey, general merchandise, S. M. Chase, general nierchan 
dise; A. ()"I>rien, haidware and groceries; (J. I*. Meek, fruit and groceries; Hur 
ley & ^^'arring•t()n. hardware, harness and faiiu madiinery; 1*. A. <'arlson. 
M. D. C, veterinarian; John M. Browning, hot(4; .J. H. McAdams, furniture; 



330 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

H. C. Chase, Jr., successor to Chase Bros., druggist; J. P. Nelson, harness and 
machinery; Moomey Bros., butchers; Deardorf & Dulve, farm machinery; Miss 
Nannie Serven, millinery; Mrs. O. H. Moomey, millinery; M, L. Lamb, collec- 
tions and insurance; L. S. Ellsworth, attorney and solicitor; John Meek, liv- 
ery; Dr. A. E. Robertson, physician and surgeon; John Taylor & Son, black- 
smiths; J. T. Castellaw, blacksmith; grain dealers: Central Granaries Co., W 
C, Rusmissel agent; Tierney & Wirt, James Fairfield, agent; Dierks Lumber 
and Coal Co., E. Myers agent; M. B. Bunnell and James Fairfield, live stock; 
H. L. Crosley, dray and express; M. E. Kellenberger, agent for the B. & M 
railroad; J. H. Walch, miller; G. F. Frasier, barber; Weimer Bros., painters 
and paper hangers; Harvey Myers, photographer; H. W. Snook, optician and 
jeweler; Mason City Mill, John Seeley proprietor; former owner, J. W. Willis. 
Tostoftice established 1886, George W. Runyan postmaster. The spring of 
1887 W. C. Rusmisell succeeded Mr. Runyan. In April, 1889, L. B. Hill was 
appointed postmaster. M. C. Warrington succeeded Mr. Hill in September, 
1893, and served until January 1, 1898, Avhen he was succeeded by R. K. Miller, 
who is stiil postmaster. 

The first merchant to do business in the village was A. Gates, who opened 
a store in July, 188G. in a small shed building. R. B. Walker was Mr. Gates' 
clerk. Mr. Gates retired from business in 1000. The first railroad train to 
enter the townsite was on July 27, 1886, and the then few residents of the 
town had a joyful celebration. Mason City was incorporated in 1887, and the 
school district. No. 160, was also organized in 1887. The schools of the vil- 
lage have always been kept up to the highest standard of excellence. 

There have been some exciting occurrences in the history of Mason City. 
Tn November, 1886, a store building owned and occupied by Mack & McEn- 
deffer, was destroyed by fire and three persons, J. J. Hoagland, Malcolm Mil- 
ler and Malcolm McEndeffer, lost their lives. On July 2, 1802, a cyclone vis- 
ited Mason City and vicinity and damage to the amount of |20,000 was done 
in the village. The school house, two churches any many other buildings were 
destroyed. A great deal of damage was also done in the country surrounding 
the town. The religious interests of the people of Mason City are well looked 
after. There are three church buildings, the Baptist, J. R. Woods, resident 
pastor; this was the first church organized, and has a large membership; the 
M. E. people erected a handsome church edifice in 1800; the Catholic church 
organization have a neat and commodious place of worship, and services are 
supplied by Rev. Father Flannigan of Dale. 

The valley of the Muddy, in which Mason City is so favorably located, 
is fritm two to three miles wide and has been so often described by the enthu- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 331 

siastic tourist that to speak now of its superior advantages and adaptability 
to the requirements of the farmer and stockman would be superfluous. It is 
tr.aversed thioui;hout its length by tlie Muddy, a clear stream of pure spring 
water, which at many places, and particularly at Mason City, has been utilized 
as a water power of an almost unlimited capacity, by simply throwing a short 
dam across it. The valley at this point is about three miles broad. Going 
north across the valley w^e come to the hills, which at a glance seem rough, 
but a closer inspection discloses beautiful sequestered parks, broad terraces 
and level prairie land, very inviting to the eye of the agriculturalist. Actual 
experience has demonstrated the soil of these lands to be as rich and pro- 
ductive as the valley land. Even the rougher hills and steeper declivities show 
the prolific nature of the soil by covering themselves to the very top with a 
luxuriant growth of grass that affords pasturage for stock second to none 
in the Union. Further north a few miles is Clear Creek valley, from two to 
ihree miles in width, thickly dotted over with unmistakable signs of thrift 
and prosperity. Here is one of the oldest settlements in the county, and the 
farmers are comfortably wealthy and happy. This valley extends from the 
northwest to the southeast, and is almost parallel with the Muddy valley, 
with which it unites some distance below\ Mason City is reached from this 
valley through canons which nature has provided as natural road beds, with 
easy road grades over the summit. An arm of this valley is called Elk valley, 
which winds up to the high lauds and spreads out, forming Lee's park, a 
broad expanse of level land of several thousand acres in extent, and containing 
a thriving settlement of well-to-do farmers. This country is all tributary to 
Mason City. For a distance of three or four miles south of town the country 
is gently rolling, well adapted to cultivation and grazing, and answering well 
the description of the country on the north side, except instead of terminating 
in several valleys, it rises to a level valley called "The Basin," which contains 
some ten square miles of extraordinarily rich farming land, and is occupied 
b}- a class of farmers that would do credit to any country. What we say of 
the people of the basin, however, may equally apply to those of the whole 
country we are describing. They are Americans, as a rule, of education 
and intelligence, with here and there one of the better class of Germans, 
Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. 

From ISIason City, in every direction in the highlands, we find in addi- 
tion to the valleys and tables mentioned, a system of narrow valleys, small 
tables, high parks and terraces, separated by hills too steep and irregular for 
cultivation, but richly covered with a generous coat of native grass, and afford- 
ing pasture much superior to the longer grasses upon the meadows of the val- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAKLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



333 



I«'vs and (ablcs. 'I'liis pasdiic lias a peculiarity which distiujiiiishcs it f'loiii al! 
others. The j^rass is equally nuti-itioiis in winter and in sununer, and stock 
will fatten here in January when there is nothinji in a state of nature in 
the nu^adow to sustain life. The valley of Elk Creek, on*^ of the beautiful little 
valleys of Custer county, is almost wholly tributary to Mason iMly. This 
A'alley is settled by a j^ood, thiifty class of farmers, who have tine lionies and 
farms and are a |iros])erous and hajtity prople. * * * 'pi,,, shiftless, rest- 
less, mij^ratinj; homesteader, who remained lon<>- enou<;h to prove up and get 
a niortuaiie on his land, has given way for the more thrifty, more prudent, 
and more industrious farmer and stock raiser. The business men and farmers 
of the southeastern (luarter of Cnster county welcome the twentieth century 
with a feeling that there is still greater prosperity for all who apply business 
methods, honesty and industry to their transactions. 

Among the eailier settlers of this part of Custer county who yet remain 
on theii- oiiginal homesteads, we might nu^ntion James K. Lang, James Bing- 
ham of Kound drove, Samuel ^^'eaver, Sr.. and his two sons, S. ]j. Weaver and 
S. \A'. ^^'eaver; James McAllister, a former Tnion Tacific conductor, John O. 
Jackson, John A. Hall, John A. Amsberry, Jacob Cover, W. Z. Amsberry, J. 
C. Peterson, Niels Anderson, Mrs. Mary Holm, Oscar Estby, Louis Lee, Wil- 
liam Purcell, formerly d(^i)uty sheriff, W. T. Whitehead, H. T. Cotfman, Mrs. 
Francis Amsberry, J. H. lirand. C. K. Young, P. M. Dady, Q. J. Dady, L. L 
Dady, K. K. Martin, Peter Simonson, Elisha King, Eli Cole, John Spencer, 
James (iauley, J. M. Lowry. ^L M. Slender, Jolin Walker, John Jelinek. Sam- 
uel English, James Smith, Si-., James Smith, Jr., Frank Jennings, Chris Samp, 
Fred Trennt, Joseph Jelinek, E. W. Tutford, Anton Dobesli, John Flynn. Mrs. 
Thorn, AN'illiam Burke, B. P. Morris and others whom we cannot mention 
for lack of s})ace. AVe are well represented in this part of Custer county by 
good schools and churches in various localities, Sunday schools })ostoffices and 
other facilities and comfoits of civilization. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 335 



:Ernr)Iti. 



Arnold is a small town located in the western part of Custer county, on 
the South Loup river. It was named in honor of George Arnold, who located 
in the vicinity in 1870, and who was a member of the ranch firm of Arnold & 
Kitchie. The northeast (luarter of section 28, township 17, range 25, on which 
Arnold stands, was located as a claim b}' K. E. Allen, who established a small 
store in his sod house in 1882. The town was laid out in 1883, and a large 
building erected by S. E. Edwards, which was occupied by Blum Bros, as a 
general store. In 1884 Ben Hardin put in a general store, and the same year 
William Eay established a blacksmith shop, R. A. Probert a hardware store, 
C, L. Long- a drug store, while a water power flouring mill was built by S. Le- 
land «& Sons. The postofSce had been established in 1877 at the ranch of 
Arnold & Kitchie, three-quarters of a mile from the present site of the village, 
but in 1881 it was moved to the residence of R. E. Allen. Dr. J. H. Murray 
located in 1884 and practiced his profession there until 1890. In 1886 John 
Finch and Virgil Cannon put in a drug store, Alexander Robertson a bank, 
and Miss Mary Robertson a millinery store. In due time a hotel and the 
"'arious other lines of business common to villages of its class were estab- 
lished. The present population of the village is about 150, and the following 
lines of business are represented: A. G. & M. E. Hoffman, general merchan- 
dise; Allen & Son, hardware and implements and livery; Frank Anson, hotel; 
C C. Parsons, barber shop; Albert Hansberry, jeweler; F. E. Needham, gro- 
cery and meat market; Joseph Pease, blacksmith shop; William Ray, breeder 
of fine horses and jacks; Ben Hardin, general store, hardware and undertak- 
ing; T. H. B. Beach, general merchandise and dealer in live stock; R. E. Allen, 
dealer in all kinds of live stock; David R. Parks, ice dealer; John Finch, drug- 
gist; B. E. Robinson, physician; W. M. Beach, postmaster; Alvin Harris, 
miller, who operates the Arnold roller mills, with a capacity of sixty barrels 
per day. The Arnold school is in charge of Miss Amy Robinson. The morality 
of the community is kept up to a high grade by three churches. Christian, 
Baptist and Methodist. 

The country surrounding Arnold cannot be excelled for fertility. Stock 
raising is an industry of great importance and is bound to become more so in 
the future. A railroad has just been surveyed from Callaway to Gaudy, 
Arnold being one of the stations on the line. Through the enterprise of Ben 
Hardin, a telephone line has recently been constructed to Callaway, connecting 
the village with the rest of the world. 



336 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



jgrftlnn^nf nf QI(if €abh. 



One of the first settlers on this table land was J. B. Khinip, who took 
.1 homestead and timber claim in section 12, township IT, ranjj^e 23, in March. 
LS83. D. W. W'idaman and F>. F. Cole were the first settlers on the northeast 
part of this table. Samuel Hi«ih also located about the same time that Klump 
did. and diig a well 350 feet deep, but it was not a success. Durini*- the same 
year there arrived three brothers by the name of Lang, with their father and 
mother, and John and. Moses Truesdale. In the spring of 1885 came Peter 
F. Forney. Charles Blakesman. Charles Zachary, Daniel Sweeney and John 
^Vehling. These settlers dug cisterns near the lagoons and cemented them, 
which held water from the melted snow and rains for some months. When 
the cisterns became dry the only recourse was to haul water in barrels from 
the valley two or three miles distant, and any one who is acquainted with the 
steepness of the ascent up to the table land can imagine what a task it was. 
In addition they often had to pay 5 cents per barrel foi* the water. As they 
not only had tc haul water for their household use. but for whatever 
stock they had. Mr. Forney started in to haul water in two barrels, but he soon 
found that process too slow. He had four horses, four head of cattle and 
some hogs, and as it took over half of his time hauling water, he almost be- 
grudged the poor beasts what they wanted to drink. Peter Forney was the 
first man to put down a gravel well on the table. It was an iron casing well, 
444 feet deep and cost him .|()(I0. For two years this well supplied the fami- 
lies of Wideman. ( 'ox, Maui)in, Hill, Blakeman, Taylor, Cooney and Pike. Mr. 
Forney had to mortgage his farm in order to put down this well, and by the 
time it was paid for the interest, added to the principal, amounted to ll.OilO. 

At this writing this table land is thickly settled. It has won the reputa- 
tion of being the best wheat-producing portion of Custer county, and contains 
some splendid farms. Most of the sod buildings have given way to fine resi- 
dences of wood and the commodious barns and outbuildings impart a most 
j)rosper<)us apy^earance to the table, ^^'indmills are seen by the score and the 
water jirobhnu no longtM- troubles the ]ieople of that community. The table 
is fifteen miles long and has an average width of four miles. Frcmi its edges, 
which rise almost abrujvtly from the valleys below, a magnificent view of the 
^ lui'ounding countiy can be had. The soil is exceedingly rich and fertile, and 
in favoiable seasons nci-v large crops are raised. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 337 



I^Bat) Man's OlanDn. 



The following- account of the shooting of a half-breed Mexican was pub- 
lished in the Callaway Courier in Jul}^ 1887: 

For some time, past numerous complaints have been made of robberies 
committed by unknown parties in unoccupied houses. Everything seemed to 
be acceptable to the thieves. Monday afternoon Mr. Simon Landis came into 
town and swore out a warrant before Justice Deems for the arrest of two 
men, names unknown, who had robbed him of harness and other articles to 
the value of |36, and had also stolen some carpenter tools from the house 
of Henry Schuette. 

The warrant was placed in the hands of Mr. Fred Jephcott, constable of 
Noel, and L. M. Holman, constable of Callaway, for service. These gentlemen 
immediately started up the valley in pursuit, and struck the trail at Finch- 
Hatton's ranch and followed it to Arnold, where they got a fresh team and 
were joined by the Arnold constable, Mr. Brown. The party followed the 
trail north to Hackberry canon, and all along the road heard of the depreda- 
tions committed by the robbers. Tbey had at one place left their old wagon 
and taken a better one, but the trade was to their injury, for the w^agon they 
stole had wire wrapped around a loose tire and left a distinct mark on the 
road that was easily seen. They also stole a gun, four silk handkerchiefs and 
a revolver. The Callaway constable held the trail while the Arnold contin- 
gent scouted around. After finding the search in the canon useless the party 
went on up the road to Anselmo, where they again changed horses. From 
there the pursuers followed traces of the robbers to a point three miles north 
of Dale, when they found the robbers had doubled in their road and gone to 
Luce's canon. When the constables got there they found that the robbers 
had gone to Merna the night before (Monday) and stopped there over night. 

By this time the constables were tired out, having traveled a day and a 
night without rest or food, so they went on to Broken Bow, having sent out 
scouts to scour the country around. 

Sheriff Penn being absent from town, the coustables, with some deputies, 
started out with two teams. The Callaway constable, Mr. L. M. Holman, the 
Noel constable, Mr. Fred Jephcott and Mr. Joseph Trout, with a driver, w^ere 
in one wagon, and the rest of the party were in the other. At about dusk 
they met a man on the main road at the mouth of the canon, who told them 
that the robbers were coming. The officers then separated into two parties, 
the Callaway party taking to the right and the others to the left. 



338 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

This canon is six miles north of Broken Bow. one-half mile north of Peter 
-Mohat's stock farm, on land belonging to the Hunter ranch, since known as 
l>ead Man's canon. 

At the edge of the canon the}' met the robbeis in a wagon with bows but 
no cover. Mr. Jephcott, who took command, immediateh' on seeing them 
shouted '"Haiti" telling the robbers to surrender, as his party were officers 
come to arrest them. No attention was paid by the robbers, when Mv. Jeph- 
cott ordered them to halt three times more. 

At the fourth warning the officers saw a flash through the dusk, and could 
plainly see the men reaching for their Winchester rifles, which were hanging 
on the bows on each side of the wagon. The word to fire was then given and 
the Callaway party opened upon the robbers, being immediately followed by 
the Arnold party. At the first fire one of the men who was sitting on the side 
of the wagon furthest away from the Callaway party, sprang from the wagon 
To the ground, dead. A rifle bullet had passed through his body, entering at 
his left side and passing out at the right. The other man fell to the bottom 
of the wagon box and the horses went tearing down the canon. 

The officers at once followed and overtook the team a mile and a half 
away, but the other man had escaped on a saddle horse that had been tied 
to the wagon. Half an hour after the slaying i^heriff Penn arrived on the 
scene. He at once took possession of the wagon, team and the corpse of the 
dead man and brought them to Broken Bow. 

The half-breed Mexican man was about twenty-five years of age, six feet 
liigh and well built. Inside his shirt, covered with clotted blood, was found 
a badge of the Cincinnati detective force. 

The Avagon box was half full of miscellaneous articles, which they had 
probably stolen. Among them were several guns, revolvers, saddles, clocks, 
carpenter tools, silk handkerchiefs and other articles. 

A coroner's jury was empaneled and immediately brought in a verdict 
that the killing was justified and that the officers were blameless. 



BcDnfD, 



Oconto is located on the Kearney «& Black Hills branch of the Union I'a- 
eific railroad, fifty-two miles west of Kearney and fifteen miles southeast from 
Callaway, the present terminus of the road. It is situated in Wood Kiver 
valley, one of the many beautiful valleys in Custer county, and was located in 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 339 



the fall of 1887 by the Lincoln l^nvnsitc Company, who bonylit 1(!0 acres of 
land of Wallace Highbee for the purpose. K. G. Crossett and Johnson put np 
the first general store. The next store building was moved from Lodi, being 
the |)ioneer building used as a store in this ])ortion of Custer county. Built by 
John Moran. This store was occupied by W. D. Cox as a general store. II. 
Bocknian built the hotel now owned by George Mary, Lewis Wambsgan built 
the first livery stable, which was run by Codlou]) Bensler. 

The men now doing business in this hustling little village are three gen- 
eral stores, K. E. Brigam, George -Mary and ^V. A. Dickman; Al. Funda, res- 
taurant and summer drinks; Mrs. George Mary, hotel; Mr. Mary, besides a 
general store, has a lumber yard and sells coal; Drs. Wade & Wade; John 
Middleswartz, livery and feed stable; R. C. Chumbley and A. Conard buy and 
sdl live stock; Fred Woods, blacksmith; two grain dealers, the Omaha Ele- 
vator Company, H. Champan & Co.; A. Karrigan, feed mill; milliner, Mrs. 
George Mary; G. C. Mullen, Charles Redfern, hydraulic w^ell business; S. K. 
Davis, contractor and builder. 

The morals of the little village of Oconto are well looked after by three 
church denominations: Catholic church, established in 1889, Rev. Pedlock of 
Kearney officiating; the Episcopal church, established in 1890, preaching sup- 
plied from Kearney; also the Evangelical church, completed and dedicated in 
April, 1901. Oconto also has a nine-months fine school every year; present 
teacher. Miss Marie 'Walch. 



QlDmitfDtk. 



The village of Comstock, the youngest town in Custer county, is located 
on the east bank of the Middle Loup river on the Aurora & Sargent extension 
of the B. & M. railroad. The town was located and surveyed in 1899. A store 
building was moved over from Westcott by W. H. Comstock and located on 
the new townsite, w'hich was named in honor of him. Frank Lemon opened 
up a grocery store in this building. On September 25th James Hines began 
the blacksmithing business. On October 1st Frank and John Currie began 
buying grain, commencing at the same time the erection of an elevator. On 
()ctober 3rd the railroad company opened its station for business, P. C. 
Croaker agent. On October 4th Dierks Lumber and Coal Company, John 
IMerks. manager, unloaded its first shipment of coal at this point. On Octo- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



341 





Powell Family. Three generations back. Grandpa and Grandma Powell in center. 



ber lOtli Robert Stone began buying; stock, with H. H. Wheeler as agent, fol- 
lowed in December by Mr. Parks, both building stock yards. In October a 
general hardware and implement store was opened. The postofiice opened 
for business November lOtli with S. T. Stevens as postmaster. The hotel was 
completed and opened to the public in November, but was soon found to be 
too small for the proper accommodation of the traveling public. A feed and 
sale stable was in operation in December. Walter Hammond opened a barber 
shop in December, and Albert Apperson commenced the draying business at 
the same time. January, 1900, M. I. Fried opened with a line of implements. 
Elias Cleveland finished his dwelling and moved into it in February. J. F. 
Wescott, contractor and builder, moved into town in February, but did not 
complete his dwelling until the following May. F. H. Kernohan had his brick 
store and residence ready for occupancy in May. In September J. W. Comstock 
opened a harness store and repair shop. In December Wescott & Gibbons 



342 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

moved their general merchandise store from the west side of the river and 
began business in Comstock. In January, 1001, Frank Hammond began busi- 
ness in a new blacksmith and wagon repair shop. R. R. Bangs moved into 
the hotel in January. C. N. McWorthy built his house for a residence, mil- 
liner}" and dressmaking store in February. In March the Modern Woodmen 
commenced the erection of a two-story building, the ground floor to be used as 
a drug store, bank and meat market, and the upper floor for a fjublic hall. A 
commodious school house was built in the fall of lUOO. The first child born in 
the village of Comstock was Helen Apperson, February 23, 1900. 



^rftlmuBuf Df ^alB X^allBy. 



J. J. Downev. 



About the 10th day of June, 1889, in company with R. D. McCarthy and 
family and two of his teamsters, we started for our future home in Custer 
county. We arrived at Seneca, where we found the beginning of a rising 
young town, it being one and a half miles up Clear creek from the present 
town of Westerville. We stayed over night at the house of George Copsey, 
one of the old pioneers of the place. We were now within one day's travel of 
our destination. We crossed over to the Muddy the next forenoon. We 
camped for dinner near the present site of Broken Bow. The only settlers we 
found close by were Wilson Hewitt and Dan Lewis. Mr. Hewitt was the pro- 
prietor of a blacksmith shop which we afterwards patronized. That evening 
we obtained our tirst view of the Muddy Flats, as it was called at that time. 
We paused on the brow of the table and the male portion of the company 
descended and threw up their hats with a "hurrah,'' for lo, and behold! tlipre 
it lay in full view — the promised land. Descending from the table we arrivi^l 
at the first settler's cabin, which, by the way, was not of sod, but cedar logs, 
the only one of its kind on the flats as far as I know. There we got some 
water and a kindly greeting from the proprietor, Sam Dunning. On our way 
from Dunning's place to our present location we passed the dugout of A. 
Thomas, a genial young bachelor. There were several other young men stay 
ing with him who had as yet not erected their future mansions. It was now 
about sundown and four more miles to the end of our journey. At about dusk 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 343 

we arrived at our claims and found tliere, on land adjoining, William Couhig, 
who had preceded us by ten days. He liad made considerable progress witb 
his work, having put down a well, which proved to be a gieat convenience. 
The well was dug by C. R. Krenz, an expert in that line of business, who still 
resides in Dale valley, and was the father of the first born in Dale. 

Among the settlers that came in that summer were tlie following: Willaim 
Corcoran, Patrick Kilfoil, after whom Kilfoil precinct was named; William 
Walsh and family, Josepli >^itler, another young bachelor; George W. ITai-tley. 
who was the first settler in Ortello valley; Andy Sommer, Charles Foote, Lenu 
Thomas, Charles Johnson and John Jacjuot, all of whom built residences out 
of prairie sod. with some of Uncle Sam's cedar for rafters, which at that time 
was comparatively plentiful in the canons from ten to thirty miles west of 
here. There was no corn raised close by, except a small amount down on 
Victoria creek, in 1880, and that was held at 50 and 60 cents per bushel, and 
could be had for no price in the spring. Crops were good in 1881, and those 
who had ground broken out and raised corn were all right, having plenty for 
feed and a good home market for the balance, at a price ranging from 50 to 
75 cents per bushel. 

Several other settlers came during the year 1880 and took up claims, but 
did not permanently locate here until 1882. J. J. Joyner was the only settler 
that moved in during 1881, and he located in Ortello valley. In 1882 the fol- 
lowing came: Conrad Fleischman, Christopher Nichols, James Daley, James 
Wood, G. N. Thompson, Charles Fodge, S. H. Reed, James Stanford, G. W. 
Land, Samuel Trout, all with their families. About this time the Dalepostofiice 
was established with James Daley as postmaster, who afterwards resigned 
in favor of D. S. Lohr, who went into the general merchandise business in 
Dale, getting quite a trade from fifty to seventy-five miles west and north 
of here. In fact it was a typical frontier store. The town of Dale was laid 
out the previous summer. Dale tried hard for the railroad, but the company 
could not see it in that way. We are, however, admirably located in regard to 
railroad towns, Merna being five or six miles southeast and Anselmo eight 
or nine miles northwest. 

The next two or three years the following named settlers moved here: J. 
A. Kellenbarger, William Moore, Charles Michele, Frank Michele, C. H. Cass, 
G. D. Grove, C. C. Grove, Henry Sweeney, Dan Foley, A. Glidewell, P. B. 
Riley, Jason Lucas, A, C. Towle, Henry Barrett, WiUiam Brookman, I. A. 
Coleman, Dr. L. L. Crawford, James Phillips, Thomas Kelley, Joseph Vessels 
and R. J. Kelley, the last named being a pioneer merchant, one of the present 
firm of Kelley & Duncan, Avho in 1880 moved to Merna, where he has been in 



344 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



business ever since. Nicl^ Jaquot came about the same time, or perhaps a 
little before. He is a man of great enterprise, being largely interested in 
farming, stock raising and feeding, also proprietor of one of the Merna ele- 
vators, and a hog buyer. C. D. Pelham, the pioneer merchant of Broken Bow, 
afterwards moved to Dale, where he did business for several years, finally 
moving to Anselmo, where he now resides. * * * Dale has a fine Catholic 
church and parsonage, also a cemetery and some real estate property worth 
several thousand dollars. The church was built in 188G by the Rev. T. P. 
Haley, now resident pastor of the North Platte church. Our present pastor 
is the Rev. P. Flannagan, a man loved and respected by all. 



^1 JRntirBin'g Olafljolic (Eljurcl;, ^ait 



Rev. T. P. Haley. 



The Dale mission was established some time in 1882 by Rev. Father 
Boyle. The first ones to ask for a priest, as far as the writer knows, were 
J. J. Downey and Robert McCarthy. Father Boyle was the first priest, and 
visited Dale valley in 1882 to administer to the wants of the few families that 
first settled there. He made the Dale mission a regular station. Mass was 
said alternately at each house. During Father Hayes' administration the 
people made preparations to build a church. The building was to be brick, 
and for the purpose of obtaining the material with which to build the church 
a brick yard was laid out on one of Mr. McCarthy's claims. One hundred 
thousand bricks were made and burned for the church. Lumber was pur 
chased and hauled from Grand Island, a distance of 150 miles. About this 
time the people had spent over $800, but on account of the new railroad which 
was soon to be built through this section to the Black Hills, the church was 
not built at tliat time, as difficulties arose as to where the church should be 
located. Some wanted it on their farms or near their homes, while others 
wanted it built at Merna or Anselmo. The old settlers advocated building it 
at Dale. Father Hayes' last visit to the mission found matters in a worse 
condition than ever. In June, 1880, Father Hayes was appointed pastor of 
the church at O'Connor, Greeley county, and his assistant, Father Haley, was 
made pastor of Kearney and its missions, which included Dale. To his sur- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



345 




Dale Church. Present Pastor Rev. Flanagan. 



prise, when he visited Dale mission, he found a divided people, caused by the 
disputes as to the location of the church. After a consultation with the 
principal members of the mission it was decided to lay the matter before 
Bishop O'Connor. This was some time in July, 1886. In about a week Bishop 
O'Connor ordered the church to be built at Dale. It is easy to imagine the 
joy of the old settlers, J. J. Downey, Robert McCarthy, William Couhig, Con 
Fleischman, William AA'alsh, Robert Kelley, George Grove, Chris. Grove, 
William Brookman and Chis. Micheal, when they learned of the bishop's 
decision. A subscription list was opened and the necessary preparations 
made to begin work as soon as possible. The bricks already' burned were of 
poor quality and not sufficient in quantity for a brick building. Some were 
used for the foundation of the residence and church and the chimneys. The 
balance were sold, out of ,which was realized some |400. There was a loss of 
about the same amount. Nearlv all the lumber tliat had been hauled from 



346 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



(rrand Islaud had been made use of by soiiic kind friends who thought it 
well to help themselves. A few jiieees of dimension lumber, with the shingles, 
remained for the use foi' wiiich they had been jjurehased. The lumber for the 
church and residence was janchased from (loodman, Bogue & Co., Kearney, 
and shipped to Broken Bow, then hauled to Dale by team, the hauling being 
done by the members of the mission. On the Gth day of Noyember. 188C, 




Rev. Flanagan, present Pastor of Dale Cliiirch. 



Father Haley was apixunted the first residence pastor of Dale. He ai-riyed 
on the aboye date at the beginning of one of the worst blizzards that state 
has eyer had. For three days he was snowbound at the home of J. J. Dow- 
ney. When the storm was over the foundation for the residence was begun. 
Many hands made light work. In a few weeks the residence was partly com- 
pleted and Father Haley moved into and lived in it for nearly two years before 
it was properly plastered. Mass was said in the south half of the residence 
nntil the church was built. One fine day in November — the very last day of 
the month — several of the old settlers met to break ground for the church. 
While so doing George drove said to Father Haley: "Father, to-day is St. 
Andrew's day; would it not be a good idea to name the church St, Andrew's 
Church?" Father Haley paused and said: "Men. what do you think?" They 
all assented, and hence the Church of St. Andrew's at Dale received its name. 
The church was built, but was not completed for several years. Xotwithstand- 
ing the difficulties under wliicli tlie chui'cli aiul residence were built, sufficent 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA, 347 

notes were given by the members to pay the (h'bt and these were deposited 
with the lumber company to ])ay for tlie lumber. Father Haley governed 
the parish with success, and in October, 1S8S, a successful mission was given 
by the famous Father Kamen, for which the p(M)ple gave him 1118.2;") for one 
week's work. After this mission Father Hoeheisel was sent to Dale as an 
assistant to Father Haley. January 8th, Father Hoeheisel was appointed pas 
tor of Dale under the supervision and direction of Father Haley, who then 
moved to Broken Bow to take charge of that church and the missions at- 
tached. Father Hoeheisel remained but a short time as pastor of Dale and 
Father Donahue was sent to take his place. He in turn was succeeded by 
Father Flood, who was followed by Father Flanagan, the present pastor. 



The Alliance Times, published at Alliance. Nebraska, has the following 
to say of Ihis well-known priest: 

"Rev. Thomas P. Haley is well known throughout Nebraska as one of 
the most energetic and indefatigable workers for the Catholic church. He 
is a native of Pennsylvania, was educated for the priesthood in Canada, and 
was ordained twelve years ago. Prior to his coming to Alliance he had 
charge of the Broken Bow mission. During his stay in Alliance his labors 
have been unceasing towards uplifting and benefiting in every way members 
of his faith, and he commanded the highest respect and esteem of the citizens 
of the town, owing to his manly and virtuous qualities. He gave up this mis- 
sion on August 1, 1897, and is now stationed at North Platte." 

The sod and frame buildings in the above illustration represent places in 
Buffalo. Valley, Custer, Thomas, Sherman and Box Butte counties, Nebraska, 
where mass was said by Father Haley before he built the church, from 1880 
to 1897, when he was sent to North Platte. One picture shows the effect of a 
cyclone on a church, another represents the execution of a young man at 
Broken Bow, Nebraska. After the church at Dale was built, St. Joseph's 
Church at Broken Bow was built, July 29, 1888. For some time Dale mission 
was the center whence Father Haley did his church work. During June, 1887, 
he built a church at Ravenna, Buffalo county. When he removed to P)roken 
Bow it was made the principal mission. During November, 1891, a church was 
built at Oconto, Nebraska. December. 1889. a church was built at Mason City. 
Nebraska. There are four Catholic churches in Custer county. 





*l'-f , ^^ 




Rev. T. P. HALEY, North Platte, Neb. 



AND SHOHT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 349 



Bom (Eiisfcr (EBitfcr Cfjurcl; WcX^r Butii 



M. F. Blakensbip. 



On the 28th day of November, 1881, O. M. Kem and the writer boarded 
a train at East Lvnn, Vermilion county, Illinois, and started f(n' the strand 
state of Nebraska. The gentlemen who introduced us to Custer county were 
C. D. Pelham, pioneer merchant and postmaster of Broken Bow, and John 
DeMerritt, and with the aid and kindness of Mr. Pelham and County Clerk- 
elect Wilson Hewitt, we located claims and returned to Kearney to make 
preparations to return to our new homes. In March, 1882, we returned and 
took up our residence in Custer county, about five miles northeast of Broken 
Bow, my neighbors at that time being H. C. Rayner, Charley Raymond, J. D. 
Ream, O. M. Kem, and James Courtney. During the following summer and 
fall others began to locate in our neighborhood, and by the spring of 1883 we 
had plenty of neighbors. We had no preaching at all. During the winter of 
1883 I was introduced to the Rev. Theodore Squires, who was stopping with 
Attorney J. S. Kirkpatrick at Broken Bow. I invited him to preach at my 
home, so he made an appointment, and when the time came, he had a good 
audience, and invited all who wished to unite with the United Brethren 
Church to meet him on Wednesday following at Broken Bow at the home of 
J. S. Kirkpatrick. At the time appointed a class was organized consisting of 
the following members: John S. Kirkpatrick and wife, James Courtney and 
wife, and M. F. Blankenship, who was chosen class leader. James Courtney 
was chosen steward and the class was named the Custer Center Class. In 
about three weeks the Rev. John F. Green was sent to preach for us and was 
our pastor for two years, loved and respected by all. Our numbers increased 
and religious interest was aroused until we began to feel that a church build- 
ing was a necessity, but we were all so poor that we did not feel able to build 
it. I was led to speak to J. S. Kirkpatrick about it, but he thought it a pretty 
big undertaking. I asked him to draw up a subscription paper and I would 
do the soliciting and also give the ground for the building. He did so, and 
headed the paper with |10 opposite his name. I put my name next with |10. 
Then came C. T. Crawford with |10, R. H. MiUer with'|5. This was encour- 
aging. I had |35 pledged before leaving town and I felt sure that the church 
would be built. In May we met and laid up the walls of sod. A few days 
afterwards, as I was plowing in my field, a man with a mule team drove up 
and inquii'ed if I was the man who was building the church. I replied that I 
was as much interested in it as any one. He then said his name was David 
Weimer; that he was on his way to Kearney, and that with my permission he 
would stay with me all night on his return and give me flO to apply on the 
church building fund. I made him welcome, and true to his word he did as 



350 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

be said lie would. In June two of our bachelor neighbors, John R. i^treet and 
Elmer Morris, volunteered to haul the lumber from Kearney, and by the latter 
part of that month Ave had the roof on and the building,' was inclosed. But 
we had no seats, neither money with which to procure them, so we built some 
sod pillars and laid boards on them, scattered some hay on the dirt floor, 
and the next Sunday the whole neighborhood assembled in the new church, 
as much pleased as if they had been in the finest building in the state. We 
had a place in which to worship, and it was with a feeling of pride that we 
wrote back to our friends in the East that we had a new church in our neigh- 
borhood. At the first meeting in the new church we organized a Sunday 
school and I think L. L. Southmayd was the first superintendent. In Decem- 
ber following we met and arranged for a Christmas tree to be had Christmas 
eve, but having no floor on our place of worship money had to be raised to 
])rocure one. By Christmas eve we had not only a floor, but a rostrum and a 
few seats, homely, but good enough, and we felt proud of our success. Our 
Christmas tree and exercises were a grand success, and I have often thought 
I never saw a happier man than was Judge W. W. Cowles on that night — 
in fact everybody seemed happy. On the summer following we finished the 
seating and our church was completed and paid for. Shortly after the church 
was inclosed the Rev. Pierce from Broken Bow came and orgauized a M. E. 
class at the church, and held meetings there for several years, preaching 
every alternate Sunday, and I may say that both the IT. P. and M. E. classes 
worshipped in harmony and with few exceptions were in love and sweet 
friendship until the M. E. class was finally dissolved, some going to Broken 
Bow, some uniting with the U. P.'s wiiile others left the neighborhood. Cus- 
ter Center church still stands in a very good state of preservation, a monu- 
ment of the struggles for a higher and nobler life made by the early pioneers 
of Custer count v. 



QTIjrisftan dLljnxtl)^ Brpkcn i^mu. 



Elder T. B. McDonald. 



The plea for the restoration of primitive Christianity has met wdth 
the usual amount of difiicuHies and opposition in Custer sounty, as the plea 
has been against division and creed. The first jjreacher of the plea for a 
return to primitive preaching and practice in the county was Elder E. D. 
Eubank, w^ho lives at Broken Bow and preaches at various places. Elder 
Eubank and wife came to what has since become Custer county in 1874. Mr. 
Eubank was the first county superintendent of schools of Custer county, and 
his wife the first school teacher. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 351 

The first Church of Christ in the connty was organized by Elder L. J. 
Correll. a much loved and venerable fatlier in Israel, who still resides near 
Arnold near the scene of his first labors in the connty. Father Coi-rell, as 
he is familiarly calkMl, moved to Arn(»ld in the sprinji' of 188P>, and preached his 
first sermon there on A])ril 1st to twenty-five hearers. Meetin<;s were held 




Christian Cliurcli Buildiog, Brolieu Bow, from a kodac picture. 

in the house of William Frazier for a time, until a church was organized, 
which occurred on July 11, 1884, with thirteen charter members. The follow 
ing- are some of them: L. J. Correll, Mattie Correll, Marcellus Sargent, Wil- 
liam Frazier. Charles Tremble and wife. Brother Mottit and wife, and four 
others. During the year 1885 Elders Henderson and Correll held meetings, 
with ten added to the membership. A church was built the same year and 
dedicated by State Evangelist R. C. Barrow'. Brother Barrow commended the 
members for building and dedicating to the Lord a house built of lumber, 
while they were contented to live themselves in sod houses. The church at 
Arnold has had protracted meetings at different times, conducted by Elder 
Correll, Elder J. T. Smith. Elder E. D. f]ubank and perhaps others. In the 
year 1889 Father Correll held a meeting at Powell Valley in a sod school 
house, with fourteen accessions to the church. These received the hand of 
Christian fellowship at Arnold. The next year a church was organized at 
Powell canon with J. D. Myler and C. E. Chesley as elders, and I. L. Wonch 
and C. H. Sanderson as deacons. This congregation has met with varying 
fortunes, but has been able to keep up a Sunday school most of the time. 
Father Correll has been preaching for this church since its organization, 
except for two or three years when he was away. During a part of this period 
Brother David Youtzy acted as pastor. 



352 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

The second organization in Custer county was at Broken Bow, in the 
month of Ma}', 1880. State Evangelist N. B. Alley was the organizer. The 
church met for a time in the Baptist church building and for a brief period in 
a hall. Among the names of the charter members were John Vanhorn, J. B. 
Farrell, J. J. Brown and wife, and David Brinson and wife. Others were 
added the same year. Of the charter members there still remain enrolled 
David Brinson and wife, W. S. Boyce and wife, Mrs. Mary Brown and Mrs. 
Nellie Humphry. The first officers were appointed by N. B. Alley as follows: 
Elders, J. J. Brown, W. R. Wiley and B. W. Blair; deacons, John Vanhorn 
and E. E. Hastings; deaconesses, M. Louisa Brown and Nettie Atkinson and 
Mrs. Nellie Humphry. In 1887 Elder Eubank became pastor, since which 
time the work has been firmly established. Meetings have been held by Evan- 
gelists Hedges, Shields, Copp, Hunter, McDonald and others. The church 
building was erected in 1887 and some of the members still tell how the car- 
penters wrought during the day and the congregation sat on boards and nail 
kegs at night listening to the preaching of the gospel. The following named 
preachers have been pastor of the congregation: Eubank, Youtzy, Porter, 
Pace, Surgeson, Hill, Teagarden and the writer, whose work closed September 
1, 1900. Tlie church has a membership of about 150, with R. Ryerson, J. C. 
Moore and P. H. Munk as elders. This church is strong in its consecrated 
youug people, of which it is quite largely composed. 

In 1889 Evangelist Barrow organized a church at Ausley with the fol- 
lowing charter members: Brother and Sister Hagin, Gaines, Rigby, Sargent. 
Rich Hagin, Mary Hagin, Janet Stephenson, Annie Anthony and Fred Hagin. 
They worshipped in a hall until 1882, when they built a house of their own. 
This church, like the one at Broken Bow, has had a goodly number of minis- 
ters: R. C. Barrow, Fred Hagin, T. A. Hedges, Sherman Hill, J. W. Walker, 
R. C. Bailey and the present pastor, J. R. Teagarden. Tlie church is prosper- 
ing, with a membership of 150. The congregation is also doing some mission- 
ary work at the Cat Creek church and the Mcintosh school house. Other con- 
gregations in the county having regular preaching and organized churches are: 
Coburgh and Gates, where E. D. Eubank ministers. The latter congregation 
worshipped for a time in the Methodist church. A faithful few still meet at 
the White Pigeon school house to break bread and keep up the Sunday school. 
Several other points have been organized, but for lack of workers have dis- 
banded. May the word of the Lord accomplish that whereunto it is sent. 



Qlljurcl; JDf ©ob. 



Elder R. Bellis. 



The Nebraska eldership of the Churches of God was organized at Cropsy, 
Nebraska, October 1, 1875, with the election of the following officers, commit- 
tees and boards: 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EABLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



353 




Eldership of Church of God meet in a Sod School House. 



Officers, G. F. McElwee, speaker; E. D. Aller, clerk; J. R. Paxton, treas- 
urer. Board of Missions, K, A. Moore, E. C. Gilbert, H. H. Hotter; standing- 
committee, K. A. Moore, E. D. Aller, G. F, McElwee; board of incorporation, 
G. F. McElwee, E. D. Aller, J. K. Paxton, K. A. Moore, E. C. Gilbert, H. H. 
Hoffer. Early missionaries under the employ of the board of missions of the 
general eldership, W. H. Howard, E. D. Aller, R. H. Bolton and D. S. Warner. 

Persons having held license from the bod}' not new members of the elder- 
ship: E. D. Aller, P. Shaw (dead), P. K. Shoemaker, J. L. Jackson, John 
Etherton, John Kager, John Figart, A, G. Bogart, Jesse Evans (dead). Jay C. 
Forncrook, A. Wilson, T. D. Conklin, M. A. Wright, F. C. Gilbert, G. F. 
McElwee, H. G. Moore, G. E. Irving, J. A. Miller, William Miller, A. B. 
Sly(^or (dead), R. A. Slytor, S. M. Wann, S. S. Sheldon (dead). — Marple, (t. W. 
Mizner (dead), E. K. Howe, Mrs. Hattie Ronsey, Sarah L. Hinkley, David An- 
drews, S. J. Winch, I. V. S. Ford, J. M. Stone, J. G. Young, H. a'. Barry. Seth 
L. Larned, James McCrea, Frederick Brenneman (dead), J. R. Paxton. A. 
Howe (dead), W. D. Frazie, J. M. Witter, J. J. Hughes, I. S. Clairborn. J. W. 
Adams, W. W. Parish, A, N. Riness. 

Present enrollment of ministers and their address: Elder J. H. Barkey, 
Lamoure, South Dakota; Richard Bellis, Berwyn, Nebraska; C. W. Clouse. 
Amelia, Nebraska; W. T. Harris, Barada, Nebraska; E. M. Hickman, Garber, 
Oklahoma; C. S. Kilmer, Table, Nebraska; A. Marks, Garfield, Nebraska; T. 
A. Moss, Amelia, Nebraska; I. H. Russel, McKinley, Nebraska; Eli Stark. 
Berwyn, Nebraska; W. H. Ward, Berwyn, Nebraska; D. B. Zook, Crete, Ne- 
braska; E. J. Thomas, Broken Bow, Nebraska; Sister A. E. Sharp, Courtland, 
Nebraska; Elder F. A. Sharp, Fairfax, South Dakota. Present number of 
organizations as local churches, twenty-five. Membership not reported. 



354 



PIONEER HISTORY OP CUSTER COUNTY 



;SMUibay ;§cl;mil$ in (£uijtev County. 



J. M, Fodge. 



In assimiing to give to the public a very brief history of the organiza- 
tion and growth of the Sunday schools of our county, I little thought of the 
obstacles and difficulties which would have to be overcome in order to 
gather data from Avhich to give a true history. After much fruitless corre- 




JAMES FODGE. 



spondence and begging for information from tliose who were, in many cases,^ 
participants in the organization of some of the first schools in the county, and 
after weary months of awaiting answers from living witnesses, I am forced 
to conclude that the Sunday schools, like verj' many other objects and enter- 
jirises which go to make up the history of a people, state or county, have 
failed to keep records of any kind, or at best very imperfect records, so that 
I shall not attempt to give a history of this, one of the greatest factors in the 
civilization and christianization of our great commonwealth. 

In the article to follow, I shall endeavor to give to the public in a general 
way something of the development and growth of the Sunday school cause 
since my residence in the county, from the information at my command. 
Knowing that he who chronicles past events for the scrutiny of the public 
often receives criticism and even ridicule, I shall, at all times, be governed 
bv the truth as I understand it. Suffice it to sav that such a daring, heroic, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF E4RLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 355 

and God-feai'ing people as make up the citizenship of our county would not 
live in any place long without raising to the God of our fathers some altar 
as a remembrance of His mercies to them since leaving the old home, which 
could be done in no more appropriate way than by meeting together to read 
His word and study His dealings with the children of men. Indeed, to such 
an extent were they permeated by this spirit of reverence and thankfulness, 
that in some cases where a little settlement was formed, even though there 
were none among them who prayed, they would meet and form an organiza- 
tion for the purpose of praising God and civilizing the community. In some 
cases this work was begun by missionaries, and in others by some local min- 
ister, who, with his family, had come west to find a temporal home. 

In this connection I am indebted to Elder E. D. Eubank for an account of 
the organization of the first Sundaj- school in our county, in what is now 
Douglass Grove township. This school was organized in the spring of 1875 
by Mrs. E. D. Eubank, who was elected as superintendent and secretary, with 
a membership of twelve, who met at the home of Elder Eubank. It bore the 
name of "Christian Union Sunday School,'' and upon application to I. D 
Gage, state missionary of the American Sunday School Union, was supplied 
with second-hand books. It was afterward moved to the home of Charles 
Hales and changed to a Methodist Episcopal school, and afterward ceased 
to exist. Prior to the uprising of the Indians, a few men of adventurous and 
hardy spirits, had settled with their families here and there over parts of the 
count}', viz : on the South Loup, Clear creek, Middle Loup and Victoria creek, 
abandoned their homes until the dangers were past. Not until about the year 
1880 did the pioneers with families settle in numbers sufficiently strong as to 
begin for the purpose of bringing about a higher state of civilization and 
Christianity in their respective neighborhoods. We are informed that on the 
Middle Loup near where Walworth now stands, also on Clear creek near 
Westerville, schools were organized in the year 1881, but can give no partic- 
ulars. During the years 1881 and 1882 the settlements in the county extended 
further west, chiefly along the streams, and in 1883 schools were formed at 
Broken Bow, Custer Center, Arnold, Delight, Rose Valley and Ortello. 

Elder F M. Graham, a local minister of the M. P. denomination, gath- 
ered a few persons at the old sod school house just north of Merna in May 
of that year, and the school has continued ever since, except, perhaps, the 
first winter, and now^ numbers a membership of more than 100. The Ortello 
school was organized by D. F. Weimer in June at his own home with his 
family and A. L. Embree and J. H. Edwards — nine persons in all — as mem- 
bers. A year later the place of meeting was changed to the Ortello school 
house, where it continues to meet during the whole of each year. Rev. Sav- 
idge, a Methodist minister, having located near the present site of Callaway, a 
Sunday school was organized, which languished after a year or two, but was 
reorganized in 188G after the town of Callaway was started. In 1883 or 1884 
Elder Correll of the Christian church at Arnold gathered a few persons at 
his home and organized the first Sunday school in that vicinity, and the year 
following both the Methodist and Baptist people started at and near the 
same place. 



356 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTEB COUNTY 

During 18S4 aud 1885 schools were organized on tlie Soutli Loup at Burr 
Oak and Eudell; on Clear creek near Myrtle and Lee Park; on the Muddy 
near Algernon and Mason City; on the Middle Loup at Sargent, West Union, 
Oxford school house, and near Milburn; in 1885 on ^Yood river near Lodi; 
at Stop Table, Koten "S^alley, Sand Creek, Cliff, Maple Grove, Berwyn and 
Keota, many of which have continued to flourish both summer aud winter, 
wielding a most healthful influence for good in the respective localities; while 
others did "run well for a season" and then when the dark days of drought 
and financial panic came, succumbed. Up to 1886 the work was carried on 
in the county locally. Then, as my memory serves me, a movement was made 
toward organizing a county association for more perfect work, and for the 
purpose of organizing schools in every settlement, which had by this time 
spread over nearly the entire county. Among those who were prominent in 
this movement were Rev. E. A. Russell, a Baptist state Sunday school mis- 
sionary, located at Ord; Rev. English, of Arnold; I. N. Atkisson, D. M. Ams- 
berry, Willis Cadwell, W. A. Gilmore and Dr. J. J. Pickett of Broken Bow; 
Mr. J. H. Blair and D. S. Weimer of Ortello. A call was made for a meeting 
of Sunday school workers at Broken Bow, a program prepared and date fixed 
for holding a county convention. A temporary organization was effected by 
electing as president, I. N. Atkisson, and as secretary. Willis Cadwell. and 
when the convention met a permanent organization was made by adopting a 
t'onstitution and by-laws. The county was divided into four districts, each part 
of the county to be under the supervision of a vice president of the county 
association, elected by that body. It was the intention of the association 
to divide each of the districts into minor districts, to be known as township 
associations, with a vice president for each of them, under whose supervision 
a Sunday school would be organized in every community. This outline of 
work succeeded admirably in the southeast and northwest quarters, especially 
to such an extent that in every settlement a school was organized, but in the 
northeast and southwest quarters there was not such perfect organization 
and, in fact, the southwest district was practically unrepresented in the county 
association until ten years later. This association held annual conventions in 
the years following until the year 1891, when for some unexplained reason 
there was no call made by the president for the executive committee to meet 
and prepare a program, so in 1892-3-1 the president, Mr. D. S. Weimer, having 
removed from the county, leaving the association without a head, it ceased 
to exist. Many schools in the county died partly from lack of the fostering 
care of county and district associations, but perhaps more because of thf 
discouragements incident to the excessive drought of 1892-3-1, coupled with 
the panic which followed, many families removing from the county, leaving 
homes and all that had been gathered about them since their settlement 
This languishing condition of the cause led some of the more zealous work 
crs to take the initiative steps in the resurrection of the county association, 
or the formation of a new one. Accordingly in the fall of 1895 a call wns 
made for those interested to meet in Broken Bow for the purpose of taking 
action in the matter. The response thereto met fully the expectations of 
those who had taken the leading steps, the different parts of the county being 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 357 

represented. The records of the former association not being obtainable, it 
was voted to form a new county organization. This was done by electing 
L. W. F. Cole of Sargent as president, and Mr. Herring as secretary, and ap- 
pointing IMrs. Herring W. C. Elliott of Mason City and J. M. Fodge of Ortello 
as a committee on constitution, and the county was again divided into dis- 
Iricts, each with a vice president, selected by the district association. Among 
those prominent in this organization were T. J. Strickler, W. H. Hornday, 
George Bailey, H. Lomax, E. J. Pittaway, Mrs. Daniel Hagin, W. C. Elliott 
and others, whose names I do not recall. By means of this association new 
energy was given to the schools over the county, new schools organized, an- 
nual conventions held and a pledge of $50 made by the old association to the 
state association was paid, followed by a more hopeful outlook for the future. 
The present officers of the county association are E. J. Pittaway, president; 
Rev. Burns, secretary, and David McGugin, P. Wymore, R. E. Allen and W. 
C. Elliott executive committee. 

Many of the noble men and women who were active in the upbuilding of 
the Sunday school work, have gone to other fields of labor, and others have 
been called to their reward beyond this life, and their works follow them, 
while yet others are still doing the Master's work, awaiting that call. What- 
ever else can be said of the efforts and labors of these consecrated ones all 
must admit that a higher state of civilization and Christianity pervades our 
society by reason of the upholding of the Master's standing in this line of 
work. 



tone :§far ^unbay ;s5cf;o£iI. 



Mrs. J. L. Walker, 



Lone Star Sunday school was organized on the second Sunday after the 
general election of 1881, which makes the date about November 22, 1881. Rev. 
L. W. F. Ook, then, as now, residing at Sargent, was laboring as missionary 
of the Methodist Episcopal church in the valley of the Middle Loup and the 
territory contiguous. At the time named he preached at the residence of 
Mr. J. L. Walker, a sod building, still standing, a mile north of Walworth 
bridge, and after the sermon the Sunday school was organized. Mrs. J. L. 
Walker was elected superintendent and held the office for many years. Mr. 
Herbert Peters was elected secretary, and Mrs. Herbert Peters treasurer and 
/;horister. There were three classes — the Bible class, taught by Mrs. Walker 
for sixteen or seventeen years; the intermediate class, taught by John Pfrehm, 
and the children's class^ taught by Mrs. Peters. The school was organized 
as a union school, but after two years was reorganized as a denominational 



358 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 




c^fo.'^ 



(*•* 



Residence of J. L. Walker in West Uniou Tp., where the first 
Sunday School in that part of Custer County was held. 

school, under the care of the Metliodist church. Avhich has maintained a pas- 
toral charge here since work was begun by Mr. Cole. 

Thp school has never died, although its work has usually been suspended 
from January 1st to April 1st, At the suggestion of Mrs. Peters the schooi 
was named "The Lone Star," in the hope that, as the stars shine on from age 
to age, this school, planted in the wilderness, might continue to be a beacon 
light to guide the people to a better life. Several of the early workers in this 
school have been promoted to the school above — Mr. Herbert Peters, Mrs. 
J. C. Predmore, Mrs. Walter Bed well and others. The school has itinerated 
a little in order to secure accommodations. Organized in the dwelling of Mr. 
Walker, it was moved to Mr. Peters', thence to Mr. Predmore's, thence to a 
school hou.se east of Mr, Peters', thence to a sod church built by the Methodists 
at the Walworth bridge, thence to the Walworth school house, whence the 
"Lone Star" continues to shed forth its cheerful light upon all arouud. 



^ome (Eavlu ^imbau j^cIjodIs. 



Mrs. J. H. Kerr 



In the spring of 1S85 a union Sunday school was organized in what wa»< 
then called the Osborne school house at Pilot, on Elk creek. As no churches 
were organized this was the only religious meeting held for miles around. 
George Hoag was elected superintendent and acted as such for four months, 
•ifter which the school was superintended by Mrs. J. H. Kerr. Sod walls. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 359 



broken benches and no floor made np the snn'onndini^s, but peace and ^ood 
will reio-ned. S. Flynu. Mr. Collins. \\". .1. Fla^i; and' wife, J. Osborne, Rert 
Tracey, (Jeor.ne McNeel, AA'illiani Keese, Mr. Hoag and wife and dozens of 
others were faithful workers, and from this school has grown the German 
Evangelical church, a fine frame building. In two years a Sunday school was 
organized there. Thus the early Sunday school paved tlie way for the future 
and Cliarles Chrisman and family, William Lewis and famify. Levi Pringle 
and family, William and Lester Gibson and families, B. L. Nicholas, J. H. 
Kerr and family, Mrs. li. L. Larue and children, and many others, labored 
for years. A frame Baptist church was afterwards built and now has many 
of the early settlers as members. Some time later a school was organized iia 
Gibson valley, William Shoemaker and wife, Lester Gibson and wife, Mrs. 
B, F. Larue and others carrying it on, and now a Presbyterian church is 
organized near where Eudell is now located. This, too, was in a sod house, 
church organization, and many still look back to the primitive Sunday school 
as a time of great enjoyment and much profit in the sparsely settled west. 



lluifrti V>vtil)xmi in Olfjrisf. 



Rev. L. L. Epley. 



The United Brethren in Christ were among the pioneers in Custer county, 
coming in the late 'TO's. Rev. W. S. Spooner was the first preacher of this 
denomination to hold regular services in the county, preaching about the 
year 1876 on the Muddy near Mason City, and also on the Middle Loup near 
where Sargent now^ is. Under his supervision Rev. A. L. Pense organized a 
class near Algernon in 1880, and one in Lee's Park in 1881. In 1882 J. F. 
Green preached at Algernon, Box Elder, Pilot, Lee's Park, Westerville, Lone 
Tree, Custer Center and Ortello. From these were organized in 1884 Alger- 
non, Westerville and Custer missions. The first was served by J. F. Green, 
T. Aikman, J. E. Hawley, S. Dean, B. E. Smith, W. C. Williams and J. L. 
Brown, and during the drought of 1891 was disorganized by removals. The 
second was served by S. Dean, J. E. Hawley and B. E. Smith. The last 
was the only one that survived the drought and removals incident to the 
early history of our county. In 1885 and 1886 G. F. Deal organized the church 
in Broken Bow and the following year Ortello circuit, comprising Mount 
Hope, Ortello, Custer Center and Union valley appointments, was cut oft' 
and thus remained until 18!)4. Broken Bow church was built in 1887 and 
was served by G. F. Deal, I). W. I'roftit, F. W. Brink and G. D. Stromire until 
1894. when, losing almost the whole membership by removals, the church 
was closed until 1897, when F. M. Bell took charge and the church is slowly 



360 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

but surely regaining its strength. L. L. Ej^ley has charge at this writing, 
1900. The people of Custer Center deserve much credit for their loyalty to 
the church through the years. A class was organized in 1897 by C. W. Bo- 
hart in Hoosier valley, and one in 1900 at the Marquis school house. This 
church has suffered from removals more than any other church in the county. 
Among those who have been well known throughout the county who were 
active in the earh- work of the church we would name J. S. Kirkpatrick, D. 
F. Weimer, G. e"^, Street, J. J. Pickett, J. C. Maulick, W. M. Harrell and 
M, F. Rlankenship. 



BBUigpapBrs of Qluafer QlDxinfy, 



D. M. Amsberrv, 



There has been no agency employed that is entitled to more credit for the 
rapid development and advancement of Custer county from its organization 
than its newspapers. During the first five years of the county's history 
there was not a newspaper published in the county. The following is a 
complete list of the various papers that have been published in the county 
up to the present time as the writer can procure from the records at his 
command. While there may be some mistakes, and possibly a few unim- 
portant omissions, we think it is in the main correct: 

Westerville — In the fall of 1880 James Westervelt established a 
store on Clear creek, which was then called Elm Bridge. The name was 
given the place because of a bridge near by which the settlers had built across 
the creek of elm logs cut from the canons. Other business men located there 
that winter and the following spring and in honor of the first resident, James 
Westervelt, the new town was christened Westerville. It was here that 
Custer county's first newspaper, the Custer County Leader, was born, on 
June 13, 1881, with George Trefren, publisher, and Samuel C. Beebe, editor. 
The Leader continued at Westerville until 1883, when Mr. Beebe moved with 
it to Broken Bow, where the county seat had been located the fall previous. 
The Western ille Times was started at Westerville in 1883 by C. H. Dalrymple. 
It was moved after a few months to Nonpareil, a town in the northern part 
of the state. The third paper to be published at Westerville was the Wester- 
ville Echo, which was started in 1884 by a young Englishman named Knox, 
but soon becoming tired of journalism, he disposed of the Echo to James 
Westervelt, who put his son, Eugene, in charge. In 1886, on the occasion of 
rhe building of the B. & M. railroad up the Muddy valley, the village of 
Ansley was platted and established by the railroad company, the Echo being 
one of the institutions moved to the new^ town, where Eugene Westervelt had 
full charge of it. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 361 

Broken Bow — The first paper piiblislied in Broken Bow was the 
Custer County Leader, which was moved from Westerville in 1883 by S. C. 
Beebe. Mr. Beebe was its editor until 1888, when lie was appointed post- 
master at Broken Bow b}^ President Harrison, which caused him to dispose 
of the paper to the Central Nebraska Bank October 26th of that year. It 
was then published for a short time by J. H. Inman and K. H. Miller, after 
which it was leased to Jake Horn of Callaway and W. O. Chapman of Ansley, 
In the course of a year or two the paper again came under the management 
of Mr. Inman. It was then leased to Fred Shaffer, who is now publishing a 
(japer in Colorado. The frequent changes of management went against the 
L( tider, and under Mr. Shaffer's administration it was suspended and the 
ttiaterial sold in 1891. The second paper established in the county was the 
Custer County Republican, at Broken Bow, June 29, 1882, by R. H. Miller, 
who had been publishing a. paper at "^Vood River, in Hall county. The plant 
was freighted across the country, a distance of nearly 100 miles, to Broken 
Bow. The village of Broken Bow had iust been platted. For lack of lumber 
or railroad facilities, and owing to the great distance from any point where 
lumber could be procured, the first office of the Republican was built of sod, 
on the corner now occupied by the Broken Bow State Bank, northwest of 
the public square, the building furnishing quarters for the paper and also 
for Mr. Miller and his family. The Republican continued under Mr. Miller's 
management and control until March 3, 1887. While the county seat had 
been located at Custer, or Young's ranch, near the mouth of Spring creek, 
on the South Loup, it was, in fact, wherever the county clerk happened to 
live. At the election the county seat was relocated at Broken Bow and the 
following spring the Leader was moved to that city by Mr. Beebe. In March, 
1887, the Republican was purchased by D. M. Amsberry, who continued it in 
the sod building until July of the same year, when it was moved to new- 
quarters, the center room of the Custer block, which was built by Mr. Ams- 
berry on lots leased from the county. For a time in the history of the Re- 
publican it was owned by a stock company and its equipment enlarged by 
the purchase of type and machinery that had been used by the Broken Bow 
Times. The stock was finally all purchased by Mr. Amsberry, the present 
owner. The third paper published in Broken Bow was the Broken Bow 
Times, established in 1885 by G. W. Trefren and S. I. Meseraull. Financially, 
The Times was loi a short period a great success, as land notices were plen- 
tiful. But owing to some misunderstanding between the proprietors of the 
Times and Mr. Higgins, register of the land office at Grand Island, where most 
of the land notices came from, the latter induced R. E. Mattin, an ex-Confed- 
erate soldier and forcible writer, to establish another paper at Broken Bow. 
The paper was launched in March, 1886, by R. E. Martin and J. S. Dillinger, 
and was christened the Statesman. To it Mr. Higgins transferred his land 
office patronage and the Statesman prospered immensely. It established a 
branch paper at Mason City, named the Mason City Transcript. The Times, 
not to be outdone, started a daily edition and christened it the Broken Bow 
Daily Times. Messrs. Martin and Bellinger disposed of the Mason City 
Transcript to James Whittaker, and two or three weeks later Mr. Whittaker 



362 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

sold it to M. C. WaiTington, Avho is still its ownei and publisher. Martin & 
Dellinger dissolved partnership, Martin retaining the Statesman, \\hile Del- 
linger & Walters established th*^ sixth papei^ for Broken Bow, known as the 
Broken Bow World. The Daily Times and the Daily World were soor con- 
solidated, Mr. Walters becoming editor-in-chief and the mechanical work 
being done in the Times office. In 1888 Trefreii & Meseraull disposed of the 
Times to R. E. Martin and about the same *^ime ti^e World suspended. R. H. 
Miller then started the Daily Reporter, and had the mechanical work done at 
the Republican office. In the course of three months the Reporter suspended 
and was succeeded by the Daily Republican, published by D. M. Amsberry 
in connection with his weekly edition. The Daily Republican was continued 
until October, 1895, when the plant was leased to J. H. Chapman for one year 
and the daily edition discontinued. In the fall of 1888 E. M. Webb and 
George S. Tappan established the Nebraska Citizen in Broken Bow. The 
paper continued until the following spring, when its publication was sus- 
pended. It was largely due to this paper that the Alliance or People's Inde 
pendent ticket was elected in the fall of 1880. A few of the leaders of the 
Alliance resurrected the Citizen ana established the Alliance Motor and in 
stalled A. J. Evans of Thedford as editor. The Motor was not a financial 
success and soon suspended. In April, 1890, the Motor material Avas gotten 
together, C. W. Beall, president of the Farmer's Alliance, installed as presi 
dent and manager. The paper w^as called the Custer County Beacon. In 1890 
E. M. Webb became associated with Mr. Beal in the publication of this paper, 
which was soon recognized as the leading Populist paper of central Nebraska. 
In the course of three years E. L. Beal of Ansley Avas induced to leave his 
farm and join his brother, C. W., in promoting the Alliance doctrine. The 
Beal brothers eventually purchased the stock of the other members of the 
company, and are now sole proprietors of the plant. Except during the year 
1898, when C. W. Beal served one term in the state Senate, the two brothers 
have done all the editorial and mechanical work of the office since 1898. Iij 
1898 F. A. Amsberry of Mason City was employed as assistant editor. In 
April, 1882, the Custer County Chief'was established by W. G. and E. R. Pur- 
cell under the firm name of Purcell Bros., which they published in connection 
with their job office. Both the Beacon and the Chief haA'e a liberal share of 
the advertising patronage of the business men of Broken Bow and both are 
doing a prosperous business. In 1893 W. H. Predmoi'e and E. M. W^ebb 
started the Custer County Citizen, which w'as run during the campaign in 
opposition to some of the Populist candidates. After a few weeks Mr. Webb 
returned to his claim near Callaw^ay, and Mr. Predmore continued the paper 
for some time and then leased it to Mrs. Louisa Raymond, Avho ran it for a 
short time in connection Avith the job printing business. A Mr. Cook suc- 
ceeded Mrs. Raymond, Avho continued the paper for some months longer, 
when it Avas discontinued in 1894. For a time Rev. George Bailey, pastor of 
the Presbyterian church from 1893 to 1899, published a church paper in con- 
nection with his work, as also did Rev. Epley, pastor of the U. B. church. 
The Populist, a paper started in opposition to fusion, was published in Broken 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAKLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 363 

Bow from September 1. 1900, to Febniaiy. UiOl. by James Stockham and J. G. 
Painter. 

AnsloY — Ansley's first i)a]i('r was tlie Eclio, wliicli was moved to that 
place from Westorville in 18S(j by Eugene Westervelt. In April, 1887, the 
paper was sold to J. H. and W. O. Chapman, two practical young newspaper 
men who came from Cambridge, Illinois. The name of the paper was changed 
to the Ansley Chronicle, and it was published by the Chapmans nntil 1895, 
when it passed into the hands of Tom Wright, a young Scotchman then but 
eighteen years of age, who is the present publisher. The Chronicle is a live 
and prosperous paper. Two other papers have sprung up in Ansley since the 
Chronicle was established, but both have passed into history. The Ansley 
Argus was the Chronicle's first rival, and was started in 1886 or 1887 by C. 
H. Hargrove. It lived only a few^ months. The Ansley Advocate was first 
published at Ansley in 1896 by J. M. Amsberry, who, previous to that time, 
had published the paper at Mason City. In the fall of 1900 Mr. Amsberry dis- 
posed of the paper to W. F. Greenlee, an inexperienced man in the ne;\'spaper 
business, under whose management it was suspended in March, 1901, the type 
and other eiiuipments being shipped to York, where they are used in a job 
office. 

Algernon — l^pon the advent of the B. c^c M. railroad up the Muddy valley, 
in 1886, the Champion w'as started at Algernon, by a Mr. Watkins, who, after 
the village failed to secure a depot, removed the paper to Mason City and 
changed its name to the Mason City Advocate. He disposed of the plant 
to J. M. Amsberry, who continued it until 1895, when he suspended it for a 
year, subsequently resuming its publication at Ansley under the name of the 
People's Advocate. 

Berwyn — For a few months in 1890-1 the village of Berwyn sported a 
newspaper called the Berwyn Times. It was published by Dr. Nickerson and 
died a natural death after a short and not brilliant career. 

Mason City — The Mason City Transcript was established in 1886 
by Martin & Dellinger, proprietors of the Broken Bow Statesman, who 
sold it to James Whittaker. A few weeks later Mr. Whittaker sold it to 
M. C. Warrington, who is still its editor and publisher. The Algernon Cham- 
pion was moved from Algernon to Mason City some time in 1886, and the 
name changed to the Mason City Advocate. It was purchased from its orig- 
inal owner, Mr. Watkins, by J. M. Amsberry, who continued its publication 
at Mason City until 1895, and in 1896 moved it to Ansley. 

Sargent — The Loup Valley Eagle was the first publication to her- 
ald the rise and growth of the village of Sargent. It was established 
by E. P. Savage, owner of the townsite, and was edited by C. D. Kelly. 
The Eagle was succeeded by the Sargent Times, owned by F. M. 
Currie and edited by J . E. McCray. The paper was discontinued in 
1894, and the material sold to the Grip, of Alliance. From that time 
imtil 1897, Sargent was without a newspaper. In the latter year J. C. 
L. Wisely started the Commoner, afterwards changing the name of the paper 
to the Sargent Era, its present name. In 1900 C. S. Osborne established the 
Sargent Leader. In the course of a few uioulhs he sold it to Howard Sav- 



364 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

age, who shortly afterwards sold it to A. H. Barks, its present editor and 
proprietor. 

West Union — West Union for a number of years enjoyed the luxury of 
a newspaper which was known as the West Union Gazette. Among the 
editors of this paper we recall Ham Kautzman. Jud Woods and W. H. Pred- 
raore. The Gazette was suspended during the drouth period, and since that 
time West Union has been newspaperless. 

Comstock — This little village, the last born of Custer County's towns, 
has had a newspaper for about a year, called the Index. It is published by 
Harold Cooley, who is also publisher of the Arcadia Champion. 

Merna^ — Merna is not without a newspaper history. In November, 
1886 Purcell Bros, established the Merna Record, w^hich was edited 
by E, R. Purcell. The Record flourished for a number of years. In Octo- 
in his place. Subsequently the paper was moved to Callaway, and the name 
changed to the Custer County Independent. A. Z. Lazenby started 
another paper in Merna which he christened the Merna Reporter, 
in the latter part of 1891, but it had a short life. It was resurrected 
in 1893 by Capt. Gatchell and continued until the fall of 1894, when he moved 
it to Sheridan, Wyoming, continuing in the newspaper business there until 
his appointment as register of the land office in that state. In 1899 Rev. Clif- 
ton commenced the publication of the Merna Sun, which, in the spring of 
1900 he sold to Theo. A. Miller, who abandoned the paper in January of 
the present year, and returned to his home in Omaha. Most of the material 
was shipped back to York, from whence it had been leased. 

Dale — Dale for a very short time had a newspaper, which was started 
by Trefren & Meseraull in 1886, in anticipation of the railroad being built 
through that valley. But when they failed to realize their anticipation the 
plant was moved to Anselmo and named the Anselmo Sun. 

Anselmo — The first issue of the Sun was from a tent and S. I. Meseraull 
was its editor. J. H. Zehrung, Ben Sanders aud others tried their hands at 
making the Sun shine, with but indifferent success, until it finally fell into 
the hands of J. J. Tooley, present superintendent of the Custer County schools, 
who, in connection with teaching the Anselmo school, succeeded, with the 
assistance of his wife, in causing the Sun to cast weekly rays of light and 
glory over the people of the little village. Becoming tired of his double 
duty, the professor sold his interest in the paper to Al Hummel, of Gandy, 
in 1890, and was finally sold to E. R. Purcell, who added it to the outfit of his 
Merna Record. 

Arnold— The first paper published in Arnold was the Tribune, estab- 
lished in the j'ear 1886, by Francis Ainsworth, and whch had an existence 
of something like a year. The Bugle Call, state organ of the Independent 
Order of Good Templars, was also published at Arnold for a time about 1887. 
but the mechanical work was not done there. Miss Anna M. Saunders was its 
editor and publisher. After the suspension of the Tribune Arnold was with- 
out a newspaper until February, 1888, when the News was established there 
by S. L. Carlyle, who continued to publish it until 1894, when he removed 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY PAYS IN NEBRASKA. 365 

the ])]ant to Nehawka, Nebraska. Since that time Arnold has been without 
a newspaper. 

Callaway — Callaway's first newspaper was the Standard, which made 
its first bow to the public August ID, 1880, the town being- at that time just 
seven weeks old. The Standard was a newsy paper published and edited by 
C. A. Sherwood. The Standard grew and prospered with the town until it 

was sold by Mr. Sherwood to S. L. Carlyle in . Mr. Carlyle continued its 

publication until when he removed the plant to Arnold and established 

the News. In the fall of 1887 J. Woods Smith, head of the Callaway townsite 
syndicate, purchased a newspaper outfit and on October loth of that year estab- 
lished the CaUaway Headlight, with O. H. Barber as editor and F. W. Conly 
as manager. The paper was named the "Headlight" in anticipation of the 
early completion of the railroad. The paper was purchased on February 24, 
1888, by H. M. Baley, and on October 20th following by F. W. Conly, who' sold 
it to the Independent April 30, 1892. Shortly after the beginning of the Peo- 
ple's Independent party movement, the political managers of that organiz- 
ation concluded that they needed a new'spaper to spread their gospel at Cal- 
laway, and E. M. Webb was sent over from Merna with the old Merna Record 
outfit and the Custer County Independent was founded, and for several years 
the Independent enjoyed a good patronage. In the fall of 1896 E. M. Webb 
elected a member of the Nebraska Legislature, and in 1898 retired from the 
newspaper business, being succeeded by W. A. Overman, who conducted 
the Independent until 1901, when the paper was discontinued. Shortly after 
selling the Headlight, F. W. Conly established the Weekly Tribune, on July 
2, 1892. which he has continuousl}^ published since that date with the excep 
tion of fifteen mouths, during which it was consolidated with the Independ- 
ent. 



Xillian QEDunt^Ijip. 



E. N. Bishop. 



In 1875 James L. Oxford made the first settlement in what is now Lillian 
township. He built log buildings and established a ranch on the east bank 
of Lillian Creek, near where his frame buildings now stand. His father-in-law. 
John Henderson, and family, came from Missouri and settled near him in 
1878, until the spring of 1879, when the level and fertile plains became so 
attractive to those seeking homes that they began to wend their way up the 
south side of the Middle Loup river. During this season Perry Lyle, J. E. 
.Ash, J. C. Hunter, J. M. Ash, S. Gates, with their families, and David Mc- 
Guigan, A. C. Ash and Ervin Ash, old bachelors, settled on the river bot- 



366 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

torn and J. O. Taylor. Ole Johnson, N. K. Lee, S. K. Lee, John Lee and Nel- 
son T. Lee, with their families, settled in Round valle3\ As if by magic the 
sod houses arose one by one, and dotted the valley and plain in every direc- 
tion. In the spring of 1880, Jesse Gandy started a ranch at the place after- 
wards known as the Hartley ranch, and the following-named settlers, with 
their families, if thej' had an}-, and with good digestive organs, if they were 
bachelors, made their appearance on the scene of action and became per- 
manent residents, or homesteaders as they were then called to distinguish 
them from the ranchmen: Tliomas Lampman, Frank Liise, E. N. Bishop, 
Frank Doty. Hugh M. Goheen. John Goheen, J. M. Goheen, Austin Golieen, 
James McGraw, I). O. Lnse, Jarvis Kimes, A. AN'. Squires, O. S. Wood- 
ward, Charles Griffiths, J. E. Gwinn, WiDiam Gwinn, J. N. Peale, A. N. 
Peale and Samuel Oxford. The winter of 1880-1 was what has been since 
known as the "hard winter." To convey some idea of the difficulty of travel- 
ing where a track was not broken out I will endeavor to give a short descrip- 
tion of a trip I made one day of but two miles and back, which took me 
from early in the morning until after dark. The layers of sleet cut the 
horses' legs so that instead of wading through the snow they would jump 
up on it, as if climbing on top of ice, which kept breaking and letting 
them through. In a few minutes they were so exhausted that I had to stop 
and let them rest. Their legs were cut and bleeding so badly that they left 
a crimson trail behind them in the snow. To make matters worse the grass 
was very short and entirely covered by snow, so that one could not tell what 
was under the drift ahead. The first thing I knew the horses dropped down 
into a draw about five feet deep, where they floundered about, unable to get 
out. I went to work with a. scoop shovel I had brought with me, and by noon 
had the team out on the level ground. Although it was dinner time and I 
was somewhat hungry, yet I had no dinner to eat, as I was on my way with 
a sack each of wheat and corn to be ground in a feed grinder that was owned 
by one of our neighbors, T. J. Butcher, where I arrived about four o'clock, 
having had to dig my horses out of draws four times on the way. It took 
but a few minutes to grind my feed and as I had broken the road on my w^ay 
over pretty thoroughly, the return trip was made with comparative ease and 
without incident. 

During this winter S. Gates and the writer circulated a petition for the 
formation of Lillian precinct, this territory at that time being a part of Vic- 
toria precinct with the voting place at New Helena. As some of the 
citizens had to go twenty-four miles to vote, the county commissioners readily 
granted our request and established Lillian precinct wtih nearly the same ter- 
ritory as the present township of Lillian embraces. From this time forth pub- 
lic improvements were made as fast as the financial condition of the county 
would permit. Among these were three bridges across the Middle Loup river 
on the northern boundary of Lillian precinct. 

Early in the spring' of 1880 a preacher from Harper's Ferry, West Vir- 
ginia, named Stephenson, took the claim now owned by Robert Ross and com- 
menced preaching at New Helena, but as he tired of keeping "batch" he re- 
turned back east and left the people without a minister. Learning that a Pres- 



AND SHORT SKKTCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 367 

bytei-ian minister of the name of Burbank, living at Georgetown, on the South 
Loup, could be proeuied to preach once a month, the people of all denomina- 
tions interested sent for him. He came, organized a Presbyterian church 
and preached about two years, or until the Methodists made arrangements to 
start a class which included this appointment, on the Westerville circuit, with- 
preaching ever}- two weeks. Some years later, I have forgotten the date, a 
preacher of the name of Ross, living in Indiana, offered to come to Broken Bow 
if the church there would pay his fare to Grand Island. As Broken Bow was 
not able to supyiort a preacher at that time the class at Gates united with 
them and helped to pay the passage of the Indiana preacher to Grand Island. 
He came, reorganized the class and preached in the old sod scliool house, near 
where the Gates school house stands at this time. Since that time this church 
has always maintained an organization and Sunday-school, even keeping a 
minister during all the years of drought, About 1888 the Christian church 
organized a society at the White Pigeon school house, and have maintained 
it ever since, as have also the Free Methodists at the Oxford school house and 
the Lutherans at Round Valley. In the fall of 1880 A. N. Peale taught a three- 
months' school in district i*so. 13, now generally known as the Oxford district. 
As this was the first and only school within fourteen miles the children either 
went to it or went a-fishing. During the first few years of our settlement the 
ranchmen and new settlers consumed everything the farmers could raise, but 
when farming became more general and on a larger scale, and new settlers 
ceased to come in so fast, the farmers commenced to raise hogs to consume 
their produce; consequently when the fall of 1890 came the country was just 
full of them. Having no corn to feed them, some of the farmers sold their 
stock hogs to eastern feeders, some knocked them in the head, while others 
let them stand around and squeal. 

On February 16, 1880, Eri postofiQce was established at the residence of 
J. E. Ash, with his wife, Alice Ash, as postmistress. It was named Eri, after 
Mr. Ash's brother, and was located on section 14, township 19, range 20. It 
was on the route to New Helena, and connected with the Kearney and New 
Helena mail at the latter point. The mail was carried twice a week, by way of 
Westerville and Round Valley, the latter office being established some time 
in 1880. Mrs. Ash resigned in favor of Frank Doty and recommended the re- 
moval of the office to his residence, three miles distant, which appeared to 
meet the approval of the authorities at Washington. The office was removed 
and remained there until it was discontinued when the Walworth postoffice 
was removed to the bridge by W. H. Predmore in 1885. Mr. Gates sent in 
a petition for the establishment of Gates postoffice, with himself as postmas- 
ter, which was granted, and the first mail was delivered there July 4, 1884. 
Soon after this Mr. Gates put in a small stock of groceries, which was the 
beginning of the first store in this vicinity. The following year he built an- 
other room on his sod house, enlarged his stock of groceries, added hardware 
and dry goods, and in 188G built a good frame store building. For several 
years, during the prosperous seasons he kept a good store and did quite an 
extensive business. But in 1893 it had all evaporated except the postoffice. 
But like evervthing else, also, in this western country, it could not be stopped 



368 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

entirely. Another small store was started by Joseph Beckwith, the new 
postmaster, who in about two years sold ont to S. M. Hinkle. Mr. Hinkle 
kept the store and postoffice about a year and then sold out to Peter Fackley. 
When the railroad was built to Ord, the mail route was changed and came 
from there to New Helena instead of from Loup City, and ran triweekly un- 
til the B. & M. railroad was built through Anselmo, when the route was 
changed and ran from Anselmo to Sargent, daily, via New Helena, Lillian, 
Gates, Walworth and West Union. giA'ing to all this section, as at present, 
a mail service that it may well be proud of, especially since the railroad was 
completed to Sargent last fall. 



ITtllian pr^nnct. 



D. H. Gwinn. 



Every citizen in Custer county is familiar with the general features of the 
table lands of the Loup forks of the Platte, and the little valleys and parks 
or depressions in them generally approaching the circular in form, and sur- 
I'ounded by hills from fifty to an hundred feet in height. Such is tlie location 
of Lillian Park, in township 19, range 20 west of the 6th iwincipal meridian. 
Its greatest length is about three and one-half miles, with a width of about 
two and one-half miles. It contains in all about 4,000 acres. This valley has 
a physical peculiarity which marks it as an exception to the general plan upon 
which the surrounding country is formed, mainly that unlike other depres- 
sions, canons and valleys, it has no drainage outlet, but is surrounds d entirely 
by hills and terminates at the western extremity in a lagoon which becomes in 
times of floods a considerable reservoir. Water is obtainable here at depth 
of from seventy-five to 100 feet, and is superior of quality. 

The soil is a rich black loam, from two to four feet deep, with the produc- 
tive qualities peculiar to Custer county soil. The sub-soil is an immense bed of 
light-colored or whitish clay, 30 to 60 feet deep, and is strongly impregnated 
with lime, doubtless decayed marine shells, many of which can still be seen 
in various stages of decomposition. This fine-grained sub-soil acts as a per- 
fect regulator to the surface against extremes of drouth or too much rainfall, 
and the wonderful capabilities of the soil to produce large yields in drouths 
has been fully demonstrated in the past three years. 

Probably the first men who ever looked upon this valley with a serious 
idea of possession were J. M. and H. A. Goheen and W^m. H. Gwinn. The 
located their claims, made a "dug-out" and cut some hay, and prepared for 
winter. 

Some time during that fall John W. Goheen, a brother of the first arriv- 
als, came with their parents, quite old people, who had been pioneers in the 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAHLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 369 

s^ettlement of western IVninsylvania. The aged couple, full of the fire of youth, 
were delighted ^Yith the new found earthly paradise and soon filed on a home- 
stead, which they occupied until the death of the aged James Goheen, which 
occurred in August, 1887. 

The greatest obstacle to the settlement of these table lands as yet, was the 
great depth to tine water. Many of the first settlers along the streams had 
seen and admired this valley, but they did not dare venture too far from the 
running water. The ( Jolieen boys were fortunate enough to secure the services 
of two settlers north of the Middle Loup river, Charles Bishop and Burton 
Gates, who owned a rig for putting down tubular wells. They were success- 
ful in obtaining a bountiful supply of good water at a depth of SO to 100 feet, 
piercing a soft manganese rock and finding water in gravel just beneath: 

During the summer of 1881 the Goheen boys built comfortable sod houses 
preparatory to moving their families to their new homes. 

The next settler to make his appearance was J. E. Gwinn. Wm. Gwinn 
had returned to Nebraska county to remove his cattle to the rich grazing 
grounds of the west, and uniting their little herds these two, accompanied 
by the writer, on his tenderfoot exploring expedition, started April 17, 1882, 
with forty head of cattle, and emigrant wagon and a herd of ponies. We 
were twenty-two days making the journey. 

Some idea of the seclusion of this valley at this time may be gained from 
the fact that while J. E. Gwinn was engaged in breaking fifty acres on his 
claim in the summer of 1882 he saw only two travelers and one of these had 
lost his way. 

In October, 1882, came J. O. Bates with his son, J. M., and daughter, Su- 
sie, all prospecting for land that they found to their liking adjoining the new 
settlement. J. M. Bates the next spring removed from Omaha with all his ef- 
fects, to his future home. A. G. Page and wife, also from Vermont, people 
and parents of J. M. Bates' wife arrived with the Bates family, and settled in 
Sec. 19. Mr. Bates provided himself with a large tent, suflicient to shelter 
the whole party. On their arrival it was pitched on the claim of Susie Bates 
and became the temporary home of the party while more permanent buildings 
were being erected on their respective claims. All went merrily enough in 
their Arab-like mode of existence until the latter part of May, when one day 
there came the most furious rain and wind storm ever yet seen in this locality, 
and when at its height the tent was lifted from over their heads and left 
them to the mercy of the raging elements. Beding, pans of milk, wearing ap- 
parel, and sundry other unmentionables, suddenly sought wonderful affinity 
for each other, and uniting, attempted to form a new compound. Bedrenched, 
bedraggled and almost drowned, the occupants thus suddenly rendered home- 
less, dodged and cowered, and grasped at straws in the way of shelter until 
the brief deluge was over. Then with more haste than grace, they sought 
shelter, bag and baggage, in the bachelor quarters of Wm. Guinn, a single 
room about 10x12 feet. One end of the room was devoted to a range of tninks, 
boxes and bedding from the ceiling to the floor, a stove in one corner, a table 
and some chairs, and where, oh where, did the eleven animated beings find 
a resting place for their wet feet? Reader, you must picture the inter-family 



370 PIONEER HISTORY OP CUSTER COUNTY 

dinner according to your imagination. As for sleeping arrangements, they 
consisted of the airy apartments on wheels, in which the men folks sought 
nightly repose. 

C. E. Bates, a young son, reached his majority some time later, and filed 
on a preemption in 27. 

Two young Englishmen, E. E. Bird and Arthur Clark, built their sod 
houses in the autumn of 1882. Clark soon tired of homesteading and re- 
turned to England. Bird also sold his claim and removed to another part of 
the neighborhood a few miles distant. The purchaser of the claim was T. A. 
Leisure, who resides there still, and if Clark were to return he would hardly 
recognize the farm which had taken the place of the raw prairie which he 
bartered away. 

Clark had a tree claim also which was purchased from Jabez Bowman 
from Cass county, Nebraska, and Bird had one which was bought by A, G. 
Bowman, Jabez's father. Clark received a horse for this quarter, and it 
is now valued at |1,300. Chas. Bowman purchased E. E. Bird's homestead 
and converted it into a fine farm. 

Some of the settlers who did not prove to be permanent ones were Chae. 
and Amos Meeker, David Daniels and E. B. Bartlett. During 1884 came also 
Joseph Pickner. 

Thos. Maupin, a worthy old gentleman from Iowa, came with his family 
the same spring and filed his statement on a part of sections 27 and 34. A 
great event had happened on the western extremity of the little settlement 
while we Avere thus watching the progress in the eastern part. 

In the spring of 1883 F. M. DuPray and wife made their appearance with 
a large family of grown up daughters. It seemed like the advent of full civ- 
ilization to the wilds of Lillian Park. Lonely bachelors hung up their flaf)-jack 
pans, scraped the dough from their pantaloons and hastened to see if Mr. 
DuPray was, as reputed, a blacksmith, and to consult him about breaking 
plows, other farming implements, etc., etc. The result was that several of the 
bachelors were made happy and several new homes were founded instead of 
the mere staying places, as formerly. Among these were H. A. Goheen, on 
31 and Fred Frances on 30, where he begun the task of redeeming 160 acres 
of land from the poAver of the Great American desert. 

Joseph Chrisman, the patriarch of another large family of sons and 
daughters, and Abraham-like, a keeper of a large herd of cattle, with com- 
plete Gypsy outfit, begun in the spring of 1883 a gradual progress towards 
the "Loup country'' from Nemeha county. He found a large, fine stock lo- 
cation about the head waters of Lillian Creek, section 3 — 18—20. It is not 
likely that he or his family will ever forget the trials of their first winter here, 
a severe one, and being inexperienced in the usages of Custer county blizzards, 
the shelter and feed provided for their stock were insufficient and many head 
perished, though since then prosperity has smeared itself all over the old pio- 
neer in great dabs, and a large increase has blessed his efforts. 

Mary E. Howard, a widow lady, with her daughter, settled in section 32, 
and bravely went to work to make a home. She has succeeded in bringing 
thirty acres under cultivation, mostly her own labor. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 371 

Kasmiis iSchritsmier located in 31 during 1884, and begun indus- 
triously to conquer the prairie sod and fit the soil for crops. 

A school district was organized in 1884 with a population sufficient to 
insure a six-months school yearly. 

In ]888 a small church organization was effected, of w^hich Eev. Basker- 
ville of Broken Bow was pastor. With a Sunday-school in connection this 
furnishes a means of grace to the settlers. 

During the year 1884 Uncle Sam, not unmindful of his far-away subjects, 
established a postofflce at the residence of H. M. Cloheen, and that gentleman 
was called "Nasby." 

After a few months he resigned in favor of J. O. Bates, who is the present 
incumbent. 

The mail service, which was at first twice a week is now daily. 

And so, being devoutly mindful that the God of the universe has smiled 
upon our efforts to replenish the earth and subdue it, and trusting His ben- 
ison will follow us still. 

We come to the parting words to our readers, wishing them success in their 
efforts to gain a home and country here^ — in the end a better country, whose 
Maker and Builder has prepared for us on that other bright shore, and in Him 
let us trust. 



•Dg0 on ifjB Kani:!;. 



Early in the "80s the pioneers on the Middle Loup put m most of their 
time in winter hauling wood from the canons and getting out cedar for posts. 
They also went on the islands in the the river and cut white willow^ for mak- 
ing corrals. There was a fine willow island about ten miles above the settle- 
ment, near the Rankin ranch, which the ranch people rather laid claim to, but 
for all this the settlers hauled a great portion of it away, especially a Ger- 
man, whom we will call Hans would go up and get his load, pull to the ranch 
for supper and lodging and breakfast. Of course, no charges were made 
by Mr. Rankin for such trifles. 

It finally became an old story. One night Hans came as usual and it hap- 
pened on this particular night Billie Erickson, better known among the cow 
bovs as ''Bill America," Charles Austin and Wright Rankin were at the 
ranch, and all you have to do after twenty years have elapsed to get a 
hearty laugh out of the boys is to say "Hogs in the ranch." It seems it was 
a put up job to have some'^fun at Hans" expense. Rankin was to play crazy, 
and after supper the boys very confidentially told Hans Rankin was crazy, and 
no difference what he done he mustn't make him mad. Presently Rankin took 
a fit, chewing soap to make foam run out of his mouth, grabbed Hans and 
danced him all over the room until he almost wore the poor man out. There 
was a red-hot cook-stove in the room and Rankin in his grand right and left 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EAKLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 373 

wenld try to force Hans on top of tlio stove, which lie avoided by nimbly 
jumping over it, taking the whole thing as a huge joke rather than get the 
crazy man mad. Finally they unrolled their beds on the floor, and Austin and 
Rankin occujiied one bed, while Bill and Hans took the other. In a little while 
Rankin took another fit and declared there were hogs in the ranch. "Listen, 
Charlie; can't you hear 'em breathe?" "No, Wright," responds Austin, "that's 
Hans and Billie.'' "But I say it is not and, I am going to kill one and we will 
have some meat. Hand me my Winchester, easy, so as not to scare 'em.'' 

Charlie tries to reason with him. while poor Hans is scared till he daren't 
hardly move. At last Rankin makes a grab for his Winchester, while Charlie 
shouts to warn the boys to look out, Rankin has his gun. Bang! Bang! goes 
the gun. shooting just over their heads. Billie jumps up and yells like 
a Sioux and he and Charlie grapple with Rankin to get the gun, while Hans 
fairly splits the wind to get out at the door. The boys finally get Rankin back 
to bed and succeed in convincing him there is no hogs in the ranch. It is a 
bitter cold night and Hans did not stop in his flight to even secure his clothes, 
after awhile he knocked timidly on the door, when Rankin jumped up and 
wanted to know who was there? "It's Hans." Why, sure enough, Hans, 
it is you; come right in; have you fed your horses? Of course, you haven't 
had any supper; the coffee is warm yet, and I will have you a bite in a jiffy." 
"Oh, no; Mr. Rankin,'' replied Hans, his teeth chattering with cold; "I will 
just go to bed." 

After awhile Rankin imagines there are hogs in the ranch — Bang! Bang! 
Bang! goes the old Winchester in that direction. Another scuffle with Ran- 
kin by Billie and Austin to get his gun, while poor Hans darts out into the 
chilly night very thinly clad, and after awhile manages to slip in without 
disturbing the crazy man who sleeps quietly till morning. While Hans is 
out next morning caring for his team, Charles Austin bored a hole about six 
inches above Hans' pillow, blackening it so it would appear like a fresh bullet 
hole, and to this day Hans thinks his life was only spared by a miracle. 



jftrkansa^ 3oh in i\)2 Wtll 



"Arkansas Bob" and BiU "America'' were at Valentine on a lark, both 
well loaded, and were in the dance hall, enjoying a good fire, as it was pretty 
cold; finally Bob dropped off to sleep and was snoring away at a great rate. 
This attracted the attention of the floor manager who said: "Bill, you must 
get this man out of here." "Certainly, Certainly," hiccoughed Bill, rousing 
himself from a doze. The floor manager shook Bob and lifted him onto his 
feet by main force, and half carried and half dragged him to the door. Bill 
having pulled himself up by Bob pretended to be helping to get Bob out 
but in reality holding on to steady himself so he could walk. When the door 



374 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

was reached he opened it and they were pushed out on the narrow platform, 
which was only about six feet square. The door shut and they were for- 
gotten. They stood there holding on to each other, waiting for the stairs to 
come around so they could descend to the ground, which was about twenty 
feet below. They looked at the stars but they, too, seemed to be going faster 
than the stair steps. '"Now, Bill ; w'hen she comes round agin let 'er go." ''All 
right. Bob; here ye are," and the two drunken men take a header, locked 
in each other's arms and bumpty thump they go end over end and roll out 
in the middle of the street before they stopped, with the breath entirely 
knocked out of them. They finally came to their senses somewhat sobered 
by their jolting and start out to find some place to get in ^ut of the cold. 
They lose their way in the darkness and wander out over the prairie, as 
Valentine was not very large at this early day. At last Bob shoots downward 
like a rocket out of sight, leaving Bill utterh^ dazed. He stands perfectly still 
trying to realize what has happened; at last he regains his voice and shouts: 
''Where are you at. Bob?" "Down hyar. Bill, I've fell in a well, but for 
heaven's sake keep back, or yer goin' to fall on top of me." Bob, by this last 
fall, was thoroughly sobered, and fully realized the danger of having a 
drunken man fall about fifteen feet on top of him, and Bill was just drunk 
enough to have some fun by playing on Bob's fear. So getting down on his 
hands and knees he crawled to the edge of the old well, then put his feet over 
into the well, sat there swaying to and fro, like he was just going to fall in, 
and there was just enough light so Bob could see the swaying body and was 
almost paralyzed with fright. After cursing Bill for awhile to no effect, he 
pleaded with him as an old friend to go for help. Bill started and got a few 
I'ods away, when Bob breathed a sigh of relief. Just then he could hear Bill 
pitching along in the dark coming back, and in another instant Bill was 
standing on the very brink peering down, and in a thick voice said: "Say 
Bob; will you stay there till I get back?" "Of course I will, you fool I'' Then 
changing his tone: "Say, Bill; if you are my friend go for help, and don't 
get so near the edge or you will fall in." "All right. Bob, but I want you to 
agree to stay here till I get back." "Yes, yes, Bill; I'll agree to anything." 

Bill meanders off down town and strikes Charlie Sherman, who is drunk 
as a lord. Charlie has a bottle and the pair wander around till daylight, when 
they come to themselves. They are out south of Valentine, coming in locked 
arms, Charlie carrying his shoes in his hands. Bill all at once recollects Bob 
had fallen into a well somew^here and he went for help. A search was insti- 
tuted and some one at last remembered of an old dry well out by the grave- 
yard, and sure enough, Bob was found waiting just as he promised. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 375 



^BHlBmrnf nf 03iHiriicf iiuul 



^^^ a. (leorue, 



In June, 1872, the writer, then a bov of eleven summers, with his fatlier, 
mother, brother and four sisters, bade adieu to his New England home and 
friends near the old witch town of Salem, Massachusetts, and started west- 
ward by rail. Our destination was Nebraska, We boys, of course, had to 
shrink considerably in size and age whenever the conductor came around, in 
order that we might get through on half fare tickets, but it may be remarked 
right here that we took full rations whenever the grub basket was passed 
around. At Omaha we saw our first Indiaus, robed in their red blankets, as 
they sold their trinkets alongside the train and through the car windows. 
We arrived at Gibbon, our destination, tired and hungry, and being turned 
loose on a box of sweet crackers, I ate so many of them that I have never "had 
any appetite for that form of bread since. Gibbon was at that time an ideal 
western town, being the county seat of Buffalo county and surrounded by as 
fine land for homesteaders as the most exacting could wish. The sound of 
the hammer was heard from early morning until late at night. Many people 
were living in box cars and tents until they could erect something to call a 
home. 

I made my first trip to Custer county in 1875. We had some horses stolen 
and my father thought he had a clue to their whereabouts. He and I started 
to hunt them up. We traveled about fifteen miles to the north the first day 
and stayed all night with a settler, whom my father hired to go with us the 
next day as a guide. We struck the South Loup river about where Pleasanton 
now stands. From there we worked up the river for several miles, seeing but 
one house until we arrived at the old Streeter ranch. Xear this place we met 
a cowboy with a fine deer strung across his saddle, and a little further along 
another cowboy who was carrying a saddle on his shoulder. He told us that 
his horse had fallen and broken one of its legs and that he was obliged to 
shoot it and return to camp on foot. The next place we struck was a very 
small dugout belonging to an old trapper by the name of Jeff Hooley. There 
was nobody at home, but a card on the door bore this inscription: "Help 
yourself, but for God's sake shut the door." The "shut the door"' part was 
in a good deal bigger letters than the rest of the sentence. We had not yet 
been educated up to the point of walking into a man's house during his ab- 
sence and helping ourselves, so did not accept the kind invitation. But we 
dug about a dozen potatoes out of a patch near the dugout, put them in the 
buggy and drove on. We wanted to get to some' settlement where we could 
spend the night, our guide assuring us that we would come to one not very 
far ahead. We traveled as long as we possibly could, it being very dark, and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 377 

still no sign of any house could we diseover. All at once our horse came to 
a sudden stop and could not be urged to go a step further. My father got 
out of the buggy to investigate and found that we were on the brink of a deep 
gulch or canon, with a camp-hre burning away down below. We thought of 
Indians, of course, and wondered how we were to get across, as the bank was 
almost perpendicular and appeared to be at least seventy-five feet high. We 
unhitched the horse, and by looking around a little found a place where we 
could descend, and were soon beside the camp fire, which consisted of a few 
dj'ing embers, but with no signs of any human being about. We were con- 
siderably scared, not knowing but that a band of Indians might be lurking 
about somewhere in the darkness ready to spring out upon us. But we were 
there and must make the best of it; so we got our potatoes and proceeded 
down the gulch about two hundred feet to a big cottonwood tree which was 
hollow at the butt. We built a fire in the butt of this tree and baked our x>o- 
tatoes, which, being the only food we had, comprised our supper. We sat on 
the ground all night with our guns at hand. Just about nightfall we had 
passed a place called Death creek, so named from the massacre of two Buffalo 
county boys and another man, at that place about a year before. The Buffalo 
count}" men who were murdered were Dr. Cutterback and a harness maker's 
son by the name of Leak, from Gibbon. The three were out trapping and 
were surprised and killed by a band of Indians. With this circumstance on 
our minds we put in a terrible night, and were not sorry when daylight came 
again. Our guide returned home in the morning and I wanted to do the same, 
but my father would not hear to it. We traveled most of that day without 
seeing a human habitation, but finally arrived at Woods and Kilgore's ranch 
about half past two in the afternoon. Having eaten nothing but our dozen 
potatoes and a small lunch since four o'clock in the morning of the previous 
day, it goes without saying that we had a good, healthy appetite which Mr. 
Kilgore proceeded to appease by mixing up a big milk pan full of batter and 
turning it into pancakes as fast as he could bake them. We found one of our 
horses at this place and were informed that the other had been run off into 
the hills near Wood river. I started early in the morning on my return trip 
of seventy miles over the trail, rushing into the arms of my dear old mother 
at ten o'clock that same night. And she never seemed dearer to me before 
or since. Two days later my father returned with the other horse. My next 
trip to Custer county w^as after posts to Cedar canon, and with six others 
made the trip in the month of April. My father was greatly pleased w ith my 
success, and these posts may still be seen on our old homestead near Gibbon. 
In 1878 my sister moved into Custer county, locating w^here Berwyn now 
stands, and^ my mother became uneasy and sent me over to find out how they 
were getting along. I made this trip on horseback, found my sister's home, 
and found them getting along all right. 

In 1887 I came into Custer county, locating permanently, and leased the 
ranch where I now live, which I afterwards bought from my uncle, H. W. 
George. It consists of 1.550 acres of deeded land and a lease of 640 acres of 
school land, located on the South Loup river in Loup township. In 1888 I 
bought out a small store that had been started on the ranch by a firm named 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 379 

Sterk & Means. In 1893 we sold out the store and engaj?ed in ranehino' exclu- 
sively. We have added to the place until it comprises over 40U0 acres ot 
deeded land and one school section of leased land. We have over forty miles 
of fence and our live stock at this time consists of three hundred cattle, two 
hundred and fifty hogs and seventy-five horses, with wagons, buggies, 
tools and farm machinery sutficient to carry on the place. W(^ have the 
Baptist church on the east, the Presbyterian on the west, the Christian on the 
north and the Methodist on the south. Our schools are laid out about three 
miles apart, which places all the pupils within easy access to them. 

Among the old settlers of Loup township who might be mentioned as 
landmarks are D. and J. M. Downey, Will P. Trew, Lon Davis, Nc. George. 
Al. Morgan, Diah Woodruff, Phil. Campbell, J. E. Myers, Peter Beck and 
Josh Woods, the latter being a member of the firm of Woods & Hamer. To 
these may also be added Ralph and Silas Drake, Jasper Robinson and J. E. 
Caveuee, all old settlers and successful stock-raisers and farmers. We also 
have some young men who will successfully carry on the work that the older 
ones commenced. Space forbids mention of them all, but I must speak of 
S. S. McConnell, who has resided among us but three years. In 1898 he 
formed a partnership w-ith Matt Stuckey, and leased what is known as the 
Stuckey ranch. He had very little money, but plenty of grit and vitality. In 
1899 hi« partner died and Mr. McConnell leased the entire ranch of 5,500 acres, 
and is to-day the owner of four hundred and fifty cattle, one hundred hogs 
and thirty horses, with everything necessary to handle them to the best ad- 
vantage, Mr. McConnell and the writer have recently been instrumental in 
organizing a stock company' known as the Georgetown Roller Mill and Power 
Company, with a capital stock of |8,000, owning the water power and flour- 
ing mill on the South Loup river at Georgetown, and other interests in the 
same locality, which are to be enlarged and improved as the country advan- 
ces. This portion of the South Loup valley is now the chief stock-raising por- 
tion of Custer county. One of the finest ranches in the county, or in this 
part of the state for that matter, is the Black ranch owned by George Adams 
of Chicago. The principal crops raised are corn, wheat and oats, with alfalfa, 
sorghum and wild hay for rough feed. 

In 1878 my uncle, John S. George, located the ranch where I now live. 
My uncle will be remembered by all of the old settlers as a jolly, whole-souled 
fellow. He is now located at Winterset, Iowa. While here he discovered 
upon this ranch a very peculiar cave, which has been a great mystery to peo- 
ple who have seen it. It is located on Deer creek, on the east bank, and up to 
1892 a person could go in and look over the interior. The entrance was down 
under the bank about twenty feet below the top of the cave. The cave had 
three apartments W'hich were connected by arches carved out of the clay soil. 
The room which was entered from the outside had a hole in the top large 
enough for a man to get his head through, from which position he could get 
a very good view of the surrounding country without being in much danger 
of being seen by any one in the vicinity, as the hole was surrounded by long 
grass which would hide the head of the lookout. This cave has been the sub- 
ject of a great deal of conjecture as to its origin and use, and the mystery 



380 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER CODNTY 

surrounding- it will probably never be revealed. It was certainly the work of 
human hands, and it has always been my impression that it was a hiding 
place for robbers and cattle thieves during the very earliest days of the cattle 
men of the country. They are on the south side of the Loup river about half 
a mile from the bank. During the first years of our residence here we thought 
but little of these caves, there being so many new and strange things to en- 
gage the attention, but as time goes on they have become of more interest to 
us, and we have since been sorry that we did not make some attempt to pre- 
serve them as they were when discovered by my uncle. As it is they are now 
somewhat sunken in and wTecked, yet plain enough to be readily dis- 
tinguished. I understand that there is another cave of the same character 
about fifteen miles further up the creek, and still others beyond that. They 
present an opportunity for some one with an antiquarian turn of mind, and it 
is to be hoped that their history will yet be written. 



M)mter Df 1880 du flje :§DuiI; Xoup 



H. Lomax. 



My first introduction to the South Loup river occurred in April, 1880, at 
a point about half a mile above the mouth of Ash creek. Having made the 
journey from Plum Creek in a heavily loaded wagon, we struck the river just 
as the sun w^as sinking into the western prairie and tinging the tops of the 
eastern hills with a glow of red. The log shanty in w^hich we intended to 
camp was on the other side of the stream and we started across. Before pro- 
ceeding ten feet our team stopped and the wagon settled to the axles in quick- 
sand, the water gently washing the bottom of the wagon box. A portage was 
necessary, and not only was the cargo all carried across, but we had to wade 
back and forth with the dilferent parts of the wagon, taking out a wheel at 
a time. Having at length arrived at our destination, cold, wet and weary, 
we proceeded to prepare our supper. Our log shanty in the middle of a dense 
grove of Cottonwood and willow, had the river on one side and a bayou on 
the other. Before supper w^as ready a whirr of wings called me to the door. 
O, land of ducks I Hundreds were there before me of all colors and sizes — 
flying, swimming, diving, in the security of their ignorance. After this, duck 
was too common a food to be mentioned in our cuisine. Our shanty had been 
shingled with cow hides, thrown on the roof. During the night a cold north 
wind whistled through the crevices between the logs of our dwelling, which 
had not been chinked, and we arose, took off the roof covering and pinned the 
hides up against the wall to serve as siding. After this, w^henever it rained 
we put the hides on the roof to keep out the water, and when it blew we put 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



381 



them on the side of the house to keep out the wiud, a very simple and effective 
device which furnished additional proof of the truth of the old saying that 
''necessity is the mother of invention." One of the settlers in this part of the 
country was Saul Garringer. He was a perfect architect in the construction of 
dugouts, and he evolved from the original trapper's hole in the ground a series 
of apartments which lacked only electric lights and steam heat to make them 





H. l,OMAX. 



G. R. RUSSUM. 



equal to any modern palatial residence. Whenever he was not making a new 
dugout he was building some addition to the old one. He was also a lineal 
descendant of Nimrod of old and hunted exclusively with the rifle. He it was 
who gave me the first clear conception of the possibilities of rifle-shooting. 
While hunting ducks with him one day he observed that I always aimed at 
the body of the bird; he explained to me that this cut the flesh up too much, 
and that he always hit them in the head. 

The spring of 1880 was extremely dry ; so dry that the wheat in the Platte 
valley refused to sprout, and had to be plowed up and corn planted in its 
place. On the third day of July it began to rain and the rest of the summer 
was excessively wet. August lOtli a cloud-burst occurred in the vicinity now 
occupied by the village of Callaway, which caused a serious flood in the South 
Loup and Wood river valleys. The Loup bottoms were running with three 
or four feet of water for twelve hours, and the fringes of willows that lined 
the river banks were filled with cedar posts and rails that had been washed 
down from the corrals of ranches above. The rain, which fell during the 
greater portion of September, turned to snow in October, which continued to 
fall in enormous quantities all winter. During the fall the work of the bea- 



382 PIONEEK HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

ver which was plentiful along- the river amounted to a veritable massacre of 
the timber which lined the banks. During- the months of October and No- 
vember they conld be seen working in droves preparing for a long winter 
which their instinct warned them was coming on. 

Thousands of sheep had been driven into the country during the summer 
of 18S0, and the winter which followed left in man}' cases not more than 
twenty- per cent, of the herds alive. After a severe snowstorm in October 
and cold weather in November the ice on the river was strong- enough to 
bear heavy loads. The real winter snow began to fall December 16th, and 
from that time until March the ground had a covering- of eighteen inches on 
the level, with drifts twenty feet deep. The wind was almost continuous 
and the cold at times intense. The cloudy days were unusually numerous for 
Nebraska. In December the clear days amounted to seventeen, in- January 
sixteen, in February eighteen. The average temperature at eight o'clock a. m. 
in December was 33; in January 25.9; in February 30.4. Cattle on the range 
stood day after day, week after week, chewing leaves, twigs, branches and 
bark, until the trees were eaten bare as high as a cow could reach, and the 
branches were chewed so they looked like frayed ropes. Thousands of the 
poor brutes died, and it has always been a mystery to me how any survived. 
In the spring many of them which survived lost their horns and hoofs, which 
had been frozen and dropped off when the thaw came. When the ice broke 
up in the river it was a month before it could be crossed in safety. John 
McGinn was then located two miles up Ash creek, where the Plattsmouth 
ranch now is. He had purchased some corn in Wood river valley but was 
unable to haul it across the Loup river, and it had to be dragged across with 
a rope, one sack at a time. At that time there was not a bridge across the 
Loup in Custer county. 



^pnxcBr l^ark. 



W. H. Mauk. 



Spencer Park, located in township sixteen, range nineteen, comprises 
about 3,600 acres of level land surrounded by hills, and opening into the Muddy 
valley by a narrow passage half a mile northeast of the village of Berwyn. 
Its greatest length is three miles and its greatest width two miles. The soil 
is a black loam from three to six feet deep, underlaid with a fine, light-colored 
clay from thirty to fifty feet in depth. The soil is particularly adapted to 
hold moisture in seasons of drouth. An abundance of the finest water is had 
at from fifty to eighty feet, at which depth coarse gravel is struck. 

Probably the first white men who looked over this park with a view of 
locating were George Early and Clark Wellman, in 1879. They took claims, 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 383 

but they did not make peiinanent sell lenient on the hiud. Th<^ first perma- 
nent settler Avas Ira D. Spencer, in whose honor the park was named. When 
he g:ot to Seneca, now Westerville, he made his first stop to look about for a 
location, fixing- upon this little park as the place which best suited him. He 
staked out his claim in the summer of 1880, almost in the center of the park. 
J. E. Spencer, son of Ira D. Spencer, a bachelor, also took a claim. He is 
still lining on the same claim, but he is no longer a lonely bachelor, and the 
dugout has been exchanged for a frame house. Several children call him 
"pa," and the wild claim has been converted into a w'ell improved farm. 

In the fall of 1880 an old man by the name of Gaskell and his son-in-law 
located and moved their families there; but being unprepared for the hard 
winter that followed they lost all their stock and abandoned their claims, 
selling their relinquishments to their present owner, W. H. Mauk, for twen- 
ty-five dollars apiece. Mr. Mauk, in May, 1887, made a dugout 8 by 10 
feet, covered it with poles, brush and sod and began housekeeping as a bach- 
elor, with a stove, bedstead and bedding, one dishpan, a skillet, a bread pan, 
a coffee pot, two plates, two knives and forks and a spoon. He has a better 
house now, and also a good housekeeper, and to his children he sometimes 
relates the following incident in his earlj- housekeeping efforts: In the winter 
of 1882 a friend from the East made him a visit and it being extremeh' cold 
at the time, the larder was in a sadly depleted condition and no way of re- 
plenishing it until the weather became more moderate. About the time it 
should have become more moderate, a blizzard set in which lasted four days, 
and the guest was compelled to take his choice of bean soup, baked beans or 
starvation. As he had always detested beans in any form, he almost came to 
the conclusion that he would take his chances with starvation, but before 
the blizzard was over he changed his mind and took a sort of liking for beans. . 
which have been a favorite food with him ever since. 

In the summer of 1881 H. J. Dupes settled in the park. He still lives on 
this place, and from his comfortable home looks back over the hardship of 
the early days as if it were a dream. He also took a timber claim on section 
9. which in 1887 he sold to Charles Kemp. Miss Juletta Wellman came from 
Lincoln in 1881, entered a homestead, built a sod house on it, and staid until 
she perfected her title, living alone and enduring the hardships incident to the 
times. She also entered a timber claim and is still the owner of both places. 
Clark Wellman bought the relinquishment of George Earley's homestead and 
sold it later to G. B. Greenwood, the present owner. 

In the summer of 1882 Xathan Davidson and son. James, entered land. 
Both are still in possession of the original claims. The second son, Henry, 
entered land and began keeping bachelor's hall. His two grown up sisters 
helped him out with the household duties and also became general favorites 
with the young bachelors of the community. When we went over to their 
house we always "spruced up" a little, being particular to see that there was 
no flour on our clothing nor any dough on our hands. Henry still lives on 
his claim, but he has a wife and all the comforts that can be found on any 
well-improved farm. In the summer of 1883 R. W. Barton settled on a table 
overlooking the park. In tlu^ spring of 1884 Peter Rapp and his family made 



384 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

settlement. C. Caswell located in 1884, and led the life of a bachelor, made 
a few improvements and sold out in 1880, since which time the place has 
changed hands several times, H. S. Wayne being the present owner. In the 
fall of 1883 J. B. Brown and his brother, I). O. Brown, took claims. Henry 
Webb settled with his family in 1883. In the summer of 1884 John McMani- 
gal and his wife, an aged coujile, came here from Ohio to spend their last days 
in the pure air of the West, and are still living on their claim. Heniy Thomas 
and his family came in 1885 and has built for himself a comfortable home. 

I arrived in Custer county from the northwestern part of the state in 
April, 1881. My father and the rest of the family had moved from Illinois 
the previous fall and located on the Muddy about four miles from the park. 
When I arrived I found them living in a dugout 10 by 12 feet, which had to 
accommodate the family of seven persons. There being no room for beds, three 
bunks or shelves, made of poles, were erected on the wall upon which the bed 
clothing was spread. When I arrived the provisions were nearly exhausted, 
and we had to grind up some seed wheat in a coffee mill with which bread 
was made; some parched wheat was made to take the place of coffee, while 
some whole wheat boiled in salt and water came in handy by way of variety. 
Ttv^o of my father's horses had already died of starvation and the other two 
were so poor they could hardly stand up. Our nearest postoffice was at a point 
near where Broken Bow now is. In 1884 we organized a school district in the 
park, and in 1885 the railroad was built up the valley and the town of Berwyn 
started at the southwestern entrance of the park. This ended the freighting 
business. Since then the country has filled up with settlers, improvements 
have been made, and to-day we are a prosperous and happy community, with 
schools, churches and, all the conveniences generally enjoyed by farming com- 
munities anywhere. What the future 1ms in store for us, or what great men 
may spring from our humble and peaceful homes, time alone will tell. 



B)rfl;ntiutf QII;iircI;, (2IaI[aiiiay. 



In the earl 3' winter of 1880-81 Rev. Asbury Collins, one of the bold pioneer 
preachers, whose labors are known throughout the whole of western Nebraska, 
preached the first sermon in or near the settlement of Delight. This service 
was held in the sod school house, which stood at the foot of the hill, one mile 
west of the present site of Callaway. At Mr. Collins' next appointment, which 
was probably in January, 1881, he organized a society of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church with nine members, four of whom lived in the immediate neigh- 
borhood, the remaining five coming as far as ten miles from their homes in 
Wood River valley. Mark H. Deems was apxjointed class leader, which office 
in the church he held until he moved away from Callaway. Mr. Collins' work 
was principally organizing new churches and forming new circuits, and he 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 385 

came to Delight only ODce a month, dnring the spring and summer followincj 
the organization of the church. In the summer oi' 1S81 Kev. Charles 11. Sav- 
idge, a local preacher from \\'isconsin, came into the community and lived Avith 
his son at the Cottonwood ranch about three miles from Delight postoHice. 
Because of his own heavy work Mr. Collins placed the church at Delight in 
the hands of Mr. Savidge, who preached regularly for over two years. 

In the fall of 1884 the church received for the first time a minister rej?u- 
larly appointed by the annual conference, Rev. D. M. EUsw'orth, who had just 
come from Illinois. Mr. Ellsworth had shipped his goods to Kearney, where 
the conference was held that year. In order to have a, home for his family he 
filed a homestead on a quarter section of land and put up a little house. The 
preaching places in the circuit were Delight, Roten Valley and Cliff. There had 
been a gradual increase in the membership, and after a protracted meeting 
held in the sod school house during the winter of 1884-5, the membership was 
thirty-five. The salary paid this year was |340, to which was added |125 from 
the missionary society of the church. In the summer of 1885 the people united 
in building a neat sod church on the timber claim of Ira Graves, not far from 
the sod school house where they had heretofore worshipped. The trustees 
were Ira Graves, Mark H. Deems, I. F. Miller, O. C. Murphy and William 
Engels, who were elected by the quarterly conference July 18th. The lumber 
for the roof and floor of the new church was hauled from Cozad, a distance 
of forty miles, and the chairs for seating from Plum Creek, now Lexington. 
The church was dedicated in November following. Rev, George W. Martin, 
presiding elder. During this year Arnold was added to the Delight circuit. 

When the town of Callaway was laid out, in the summer of 1886, the 
preaching was moved from the church, which was nearly a mile out. to the 
dining room of the Deems hotel, then in course of erection. After the hotel 
was completed and occupied the church services were held in Smith's hall over 
a hardware store owned by Smith & Needham. This hall was commonly known 
as the ''Callaway Opera house." For its use the church paid |2 each Sunday 
and the same amount for each prayer meeting or extra service. 

Rev. Thomas H. Thurber was the next pastor, coming to the charge in the 
fall of 188G. His family made their home in a sod house belonging to Mark H. 
Deems, and reserved by him when he sold his homestead for the townsite. Mr. 
Thurber was himself "holding down" a claim in Dawson county, and so moved 
his family back to his claim in the spring, where they remained until he made 
final proof in the fall. Mr. Thurber was reappointed for another year, and 
immediately after his return from conference the people commenced the build- 
ing of the first frame church in the town of Callaway. The building cost |1,000 
and was considered at that time quite an undertaking, but the trustees and 
members were determined in their efforts and the people of the community re- 
sponded generously. The church was dedicated December 4, 1887, by Rev. 
Leslie Stevens, at that time presiding elder. Only |300 yet remained unpaid, 
but to those who had already contributed all that they felt able, it seemed like 
attempting the impossible to ti*y to raise that amount. Unwilling to fail at 
the last moment, eight men agreed together to give each |25 more, and when 
the call was made and these eight in succession subscribed so liberally, others 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 387 

also responded, and in a few minutes the whole amount was raised. After 
returning from tlieir homestead, the pastor's family had occupied a single room 
over one of the stores in the town, for which they had to pay |12 per mouth, 
and it was not ditticult to see that a parsonage w^as an actual necessity. Ac- 
cordingly as soon as the church was completed the trustees took shares in 
the building and loan association and immediately couuuenced work on the 
parsonage. It was completed in February. 1S88, and from that time a good 
home — small, but cozy and comfortable — has been ready for the Methodist 
minister and his family. The securing of a church building and parsonage nuiy 
be considered as closing the pioneer history of the Methodist church of Calla- 
way, and having laid aside its swaddling clothes it has had only the ordinary 
experience of a church — hardships, opposition and varying degrees of success — 
important in themselves, but not of sufticient interest for a pioneer history. 

Author's ^'ote — I am sorry we do not have the minister's name who fur- 
nished us this article. 



(Exi^fer Qlriuufy jflgriculfiiral ^Dnrfy. 



One of the most important organizations in the county is the Custer 
County Agricultural Society. It has done much toward the development of 
the county and is an institution to which Custer county people point with no 
little degree of pride. The large scope of territory from which the annual 
fair draws makes it an attraction which brings to Broken Bow an immense 
concourse of people every fall. It has gained the well-earned reputation of 
one of the very best fairs' in the state. In the summer of 1881 a little baud of 
homesteaders 'met at the town of Westerville and organized what was known 
as the "Custer County Agricultural Society." 

The organizers were C. S. Elison, S. C. Beebe, George O. \Yaters, A. W. 
Squires, D. M. Amsberry, K. C. Talbot, J. H. Westervelt. J. L. H. Knight, F. 
D. Miller, John Welsh, Thomas Blowers, Edgar Varney, Martin Gering, C. T. 
Crawford and B. E. Lamphear. The first officers were C. S. Elison, president; 
George O. Waters, vice president; S. C. Beebe, secretary, and C. T. Crawford, 
treasurer. The first fair was held the latter part of August the same year, and 
while it was a primitive one, yet it was a great event for a new county, and 
the attendance included every homesteader within a radius of a good many 
miles. The attractions were' limited, horse racing being the main feature, 
while a pulling match between Frank Doty of Lillian and H. Weakling of 
Berwyn was an important event. The exhibits were, of course, light, but nev- 
ertheless the display of corn, wheat and oats was far better than one would 
expect in a country that was but sparsely populated. The pumpkin and melon 
show at this fair was something marvelous. 

Another fair was held at Westerville in the fall of 1882. The following 
year Broken Bow had gained sufficient prominence to become a rival of West- 



388 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



erville and divided honors with her by the fair being held three days at each 
place. 

The first fair held in Broken Bow occurred about the middle of September, 
1883, shortly after the Westerville fair. It w^as a great event. The grounds 
were located where the present court house stands and the race course circled 
around a couple of blocks, where the exciting races took place. It is hardly 
necessary to add that in those days, with the population made up largely of 
young men and the sturdy cowboj' element predominating, that favorite horses 
were backed with plenty of money and plenty of nerve. At both the Wester- 
ville and Broken Bow fairs that year a leading attraction w^as the walking 
of the tight rope by Eli Armstrong, who, at the time of the publication of 
this book, is sheriff of Custer county. Bronco riding was a great attraction 
and the cowboy who could rope, bridle, saddle and mount a wild horse, un- 
aided, and ride to a given point first, was sure of a good purse. 

In 1884 the fairs were again held at Broken Bow and Westerville during 
September and October under the direction of the same society, met at West- 
erville and voted the exclusive rights to a fair at Broken Bow. Shortly after 
this the society was incorporated under the laws of the state, its official title 
being ''The Custer County Agricultural Society and Live Stock Exchange." 
Forty acres of land were purchased a mile east of Broken Bow early in 1885 
and permanent quarters were established. Suitable buildings w^ere erected and 
a splendid half-mile track was made. The fair has been held regularly every 
year and has been constantly enlarged from its small beginning with only a 
few dollars offered in premiums, until its premiums and purses have, during the 
past few years, reached |3,500, and its crowds come from fifty miles in every 
direction. Its list of life members is well up in the hundreds and it is without 
doubt one of the most progressive agricultural societies in Nebraska. Through 
the efforts of the agricultural society Custer county captured the gold medal 
offered by the state fair for the county exhibit which could take three suc- 
cessive first prizes. These prizes w^ere won in 1888, 1889 and 1890 and this 
medal is prized very highly as an everlasting monument to the agricultural 
resources of the great "State of Custer." A county that can win such a prize 
in three successive contests with nearly 100 competitors, surely has some 
merit to its claim as an agricultural county. 

Perhaps a word w^ould not be out of place regarding the officers of this 
society. They are as follows: 

Presidents— C. S. Elison. 1881; George O. Waters, 1882 to 1884 inclusive; 
F. Zimmerer, 1885; Edmund King, 1886 and 1887; J. D. Ream. 1888 to L896 
inclusive; L. H. Jewett, 1897 to 1899 inclusive; J. O. Tavlor. 1900 and 1901. 
Secretaries— S. C. Beebe, 1881; J. L. H. Knight, 1882 to 1885 inclusive; A. R. 
Humphrey, 1886; J. L. H. Knight, 1887 to 1890 inclusive; W. H. Cramer. 1891; 
Cary Kay, 1892; F. H. Young, 1893 and 1894; L. McCandless, 1895; J. M. 
Fodge. 1896; E. R. Purcell, 1897 to 1901 inclusive. Treasurers— C. T. Craw- 
ford, 1880 to 1882 inclusive; D. M. Amsberrv, 1883 to 1886 inclusive; O. P. 
Perley, 1887 to 1893 inclusive; E. F. McClure, 1894 to 1898 inclusive; J. A. 
Harris, 1899; A. R. Humphrey. 1900; W. D. Blackwell, 1901. 

The board of directors consists of nine members, three of whom are 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 389 



elected every year. This board has always been selected from among the very 
best and most progressive farmers, stock raisers and business men of the 
connty. The present officers (1901) are: President, J. O. Taylor; vice presi- 
dent, Thomas Finlen; secretary, E. R. Purcell; assistant secretary, F. W. 
Hayes; treasurer, W. D. Blackwell; directors, Ed McComas, G. R. Eussom, 
John Finch, A. E. Hanna. W. A. George, H. Lomax, C. H. Miller, E. C. Gib- 
bons and P. F. Campbell. 



€I;b mUu €rtaL 



The case of the state vs. William Oxley was called by Judge Sullivan as 
the first case on the docket Monday morning. County Attorney L. E. Kirk- 
patrick, J. S. Kirkpatrick and Charles H. Holcomb appeared for the state, 
and the accused was represented by J. R. Dean of this city and Judge Aaron 
Wall of Loup Cit}'. The prisoner, accompanied by Sheriff Armstrong, ap- 
peared promptly at 10 o'clock. The jury as chosen are as follows: J. L. 
King, J. H. Cosner, G. T. Robinson, W. H. Mauk, J. E. Evans. Godfrev Nansel. 
W. P. Trew, H. Wilkie, George Cox, S. P. Young, James May, T. D. Gill. 

W. H. Fullhart, an eccentric character, whose brick residence is pic- 
tured in this work, was found dead on his ranch, eighteen miles north- 
east of Anselmo on Saturday, October 24, 1900, with the skull broken, 
apparently by some bhmt instrument. The body was found about 
a mile from the house, and near it was a sled on which were two rolls 
of fence wire, wdth which the murdered man had been building a fence at 
the time of his death. No horse was attached to the sled, but the harness 
was found in the barn with blood on the traces, lines and snaps. Fullhart 
was a bachelor, and lived alone, except when he occasionally had some one 
to work for him. It had been known that about ten days before his death he 
had a young man working for him, but none of the neighbors could say 
whether the young man w'as there at the time the murder occurred or not. 
Fullhart was reputed to be quite w^ell-to-do, and it was known that he had at 
least |1,600 in cash in his possession a few weeks previous to the time his dead 
body was found. Seven dollars and fifty cents in money was found on his 
person, but none about his premises, and of his cattle, of which he had about 
fifty head, fifteen were missing. A few days later a young man by the name 
of William Oxley, who had formerly worked for Fullhart, was arrested on stis- 
picion of being the murderer. Oxley had been trying to sell some cattle 
which he said he had purchased from a man by the name of Crawford, which 
proved to belong to Fullhart, but his explanations did not satisfy the authori- 
ties. The trial commenced at Broken P>ow on Monday, February 11, 1901, 
and attracted a great deal of notice from the fact that young Oxley had been 
known in the county for a number of years and bore a good reputation. There 



300 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



were eiglity-six witnesses in the case and tlie lej;al talent was tlie best that 
could be had in the connty. The trial lasted a week and resulted in a verdict 
(if nmrdej' in the second degree. As there was nothing to show that any 
sTrnggle had occurred at the time of the murder it looked as if the murder 




The Fullhart House, showing the old sled on which Mr. Fnllhart was hauling wire wheu murdered. 



must have been done in cold blood, but in the absence of any direct evidence 
to connect Oxley with the crime, the jury concluded to give him the benefit 
of the doubt to the extent of finding for murder in the second degree. Oxley 
protested his innocence all through the trial, but neither himself nor his attor- 
neys made any attempt to explain how he came into possession of Fulhart's 
cattle. Oxley was sentenced to serve twenty-six years in the State Peniten- 
tiarv. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



391 



Itrriaafiini in Qliutier Qlmiuiy. 



*E. P. Savage. 



It is thought by many that irrigation is a new idea, or something that 
came with the electric car, the telephone, or as one of onr old ladies in this 
county puts it, "a new tangled notion," but to those who have that impres- 
sion, I would suggest a reference to Genesis, 2:10. They will find that the 




Hon. E. p. SAVAGE, 
Governor of Nebraska. 



apple which Eve ate, and which caused the downfall of mankind, was grown 
by irrigation. It reads: "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, 
and from thence it parted and went into four heads." Now, I believe this is 
as ancient authority as we have, and it is pretty reliable. Again, we have it 
from equally reliable authority that the corn which Joseph sold to his breth- 
ren in Egypt was raised by irrigation. After Joseph was sold into Egypt he 
had a canal constructed, about 300 miles long and about 300 feet wide, for irri- 
gating purposes, and this very same canal is still used for irrigation. 

Tliese facts would go to prove that irrigation is not a new idea, yet in its 
experimental stage. Irrigation was carried on in all civilized countries hun- 



*Hon. E. P. Savage was elected lieutenant governor, and by the resignation of Gover- 
nor Dietrich became governor of the state, May 1, 1901. 



392 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

dreds of years before Columbus discoA'ered America, and even on this conti- 
nent I have myself seen evidences of its having been used in Iowa, Colorado, 
Mexico and Arizona by prehistoric people who occupied these portions of the 
western hemisphere. We have many evidences to prove that they were an 
enlightened, progressive and prosperous people. It is also a fact that in all 
countries at the present time the most intelligent and progressive people are 
those who have the most improveed methods of irrigation. No means has 
ever yet been devised whereby irrigation can be carried on to any gieat extent 
except by taking the water from a natural stream and carrying it upon the 
land by gravitation, and in order to do this succesfully and profitably the 
stream must have a waterfall of five or more feet to the mile, and then not run 
too deep below the surface of the land to be irrigated. Nature has evidently 
"done all things well," for in all the arid and semi-arid parts of the country 
where irrigation is necessary that man may reap the most from his labor, 
the streams have a fall of from six to 150 feet to the mile, and usually run 
near the surface. This country lies close to the eastern limit of the semi- 
arid part of the continent, where irrigation may be profitably used every 
year, and is peculiarly provided by nature for its use in its abundance of water 
supply, and the ease with which it may be distributed over the land. Another 
peculiar fact is that there is not another stream on the continent east of the 
Loup rivers where irrigation may be carried on to any great extent, for the 
reason that they run too deep and the fall is too slight. Again nature is in 
the right, for east of these rivers the continent is supplied with a sufficient 
rainfall. 

There is no question about it, we have in Custer county, taking into con 
sideration our climate, soil, proximity to market, abundant supply of pure 
water and water for irrigating purposes, one of the best parts of our grand 
country, and capable, under scientific management, of sustaining a dense 
rigricultural population. When more people come here who are willing to 
fissist in utilizing the advantages that God has placed in our hands, our val- 
leys will be filled with prosperous towns. Already many thousands of dollars 
have been expended in the country for irrigating purposes, but owing to 
causes that it is not necessary to mention here, the plans were abandoned 
Defore completion. We will hope for a bright future for the country when it 
Is placed under the benefits of irrigation. 



^\)v Bairytng 3tniimtfr{j< 



W. S. Wescott. 



While dairying in Custer county is yet in its infancy, enough has been 
done along this line to demonstrate by the most elaborate and exhaustive 
tests that the native grasses of this county produce butter and cheese of the 
highest and best quality, and although conditions are not at this lime favor- 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



393 




W. S. WESCOTT. 



Biography of W. S. Wescott. — W. S. Wescott was born in Wethersfield, 
Wyoming county, New York, in 1828, and immigrated with his parents to Wis- 
consin in 1843 when a boy of fifteen. He went immediately into the "cattle 
business,'' which had been a lifelong hobby — that is, he hired out on a farm 
and invested his first earnings in a calf, from which his herds increased until 
he has since counted his cattle by the thousands. While a citizen of Wiscon- 
sin he occupied many positions of trust and honor, among them being four 
terms in the Wisconsin Legislature, two in the Assembly and two in the Sen- 
ate. He located in Custer county, Nebraska, in 1880, at what was then known as 
the Big Spring. In 1885 the firm of Wescott & Gibbons was established. In 
1887 they located and started the town of Wescott on the Middle Loup river, 
built a large store, town hall and other buildings. 



able enough to warrant farmers in making sudden or expensive changes in 
their modes of farming, yet the fact remains that the farmers of Custer 
county must eventually adopt this branch of industry to insure certain and 
profitable returns for their labor. If Custer county has any crop that is sure 
and certain under all circumstances, that never fails in time of drought, that 
grows on the highest and driest land nearly as well as on the lowest, that 
crop is grass, which by this particular mode of farming can be turned directly 
and certainly into money. Then how long will the farmers of Custer county 
go on in the old way of plowing and sowing grain, trying to beat natural con- 
ditions in the attempt to raise crops that will not grow. Buying reapers and 
binders and threshing machines, working themselves to death to enrich ma- 
chine builders and their agents, and impoverishing their land and themselves 



394 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

at the same time, ^vhen by this sure and eeitaiii method of farming, with 
small outlay for milk pail and stool they can soon get out of debt and have 
money to loan? This is not idle talk, speculation or conjecture. What man 
lias done man may do, and in the experience of dairymen or the history of the 
business there is no record of failure. Can as much be said of any other busi- 
ness? Then it ought not require much argument to induce farmers to engage 
in the business of turning these vast acres of grass into money. 

Forty years ago conditions in Green county, Wisconsin, were very similar 
to those existing in Custer county to-day. Green county comprised an area 
of twenty-four miles square, and the land was cidtivated very much the same 
as the land in this county at the present time. But now all is changed and 
Green county is one of the most prosperous in the state of Wisconsin. Land 
that then sold for |30 per acre is now worth and readily sells for |100 per acre 
and there is very little of the land that is not devoted exclusively to the pro- 
duction of grass and forage crops. As a consequence the most of the farmers 
are prosperous and wealthy. Conditions in Custer county may be changed 
similarly if farmers will stop buying machinery and arrange their farming so 
as to utilize all this vast sea of grass which now goes to waste. The whole 
question of dairying hinges upon, and is determined by, the fact that the 
native grasses of Custer county produce butter and cheese of the finest and 
best quality. Neither the cheapness of the land, the certainty and great 
surplus of the grass crop, nor the favorable climate are taken into account at 
all in making up a verdict for or against this proposition. But when these 
facts will impress themselves upon the minds of the farmers sufficiently strong 
as to induce them to make a change and engage in this work, is uncertain. 



;§niniB BaxBtna, 



*F. M. Currie. 



Custer county is in the geographical center of the state of Nebraska. Its 
elevation is about 2,0U0 feet above the level of the sea, and the average rain- 
fall is not far from twenty inches per annum. It i)roduces a large variety 
of nutritious grasses, and is well watered. Although streams are not very 
abundant, water is to be found everywhere in inexhaustible quantities at 
various depths ranging from a few feet in the valleys to 400 feet on the high- 
est table lands. It was the home of countless numbers of buffalo before the 
advent of the cowboy. With the coming of the cattlemen the buffalo were 
driven out, and it became a veritable paradise for the large cattle ranch. 
After it was opened foi- settlement the homesteader claimed its broad and 

*Hon. F. M. Currie is now serving bis second term as state senator, and was a promi- 
nent candidate for the United States Senate, 1901. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 395 

fertile prairies as his right under the law and the cattle rancher was obliged 
to vacate. But the number of cattle were increased instead of diminished. 
In place of a few men owning hundreds and even thousands of head, a large 
number of men became the owners of small herds, and the total number was 
increased. Much of the land was broken out, and general agilculture became 
the occupation of the early settlers. Then it was that a more intensive agri- 
culture became necessary, and the farmers turned their attention to the poor 
man's friend — the hog. The hog is essentially the friend of the poor farmer 
because it requires very little capital with which to make a start. The num- 
ber of hogs in Custer county has increased very rapidly, until nearly every 
farmer owns from ten to four or five hundred head. Of course the keeping 
of hogs necessitates the growing of corn. With the exception of two years — 
those of 1800 and 1804 — Custer county has produced a sufficient quantity of 
corn to mature most of the hogs raised within her borders. The high alti- 
tude, the pure atmosphere and excellent drainage of Custer county makes it 
exceedingly healthful for both human beings and animals. The animal dis- 
eases which are so common in most parts of the United States are almost 
unknown in Custer county. In recent years there has been a slight loss from 
disease known (in the common parlance) as hog cholera. But Custer county 
has never had an epidemic which carried off whole herds of swine. 

The farmer, unlike his predecessor, the cattle man, usually markets his 
cattle in a finished condition. The cattle man of the olden times gathered 
his beeves from the plains and shipped them in large numbers to the market 
in Chicago or Kansas City. Those that were fat enough to kill were sold to 
the butcher; those that were not finished were sold to the feeders in Iowa, 
eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas and Illinois. The farmer and cattleman of 
the present day feeds his own cattle and ships them, ready for the block, to 
the market in Omaha, which is distant about 180 miles. The cost of trans- 
portation is about |38 per carload. In preparing his beef, the farmer finds a 
large saving in the use of the hog. The cattle are put in yards and fed all 
the grain they wall eat; at the same time hogs are put in the yard to follow 
the cattle, cleaning up the waste. The cattle usually absorb about one-half of 
the nutritive value of the corn that passes through their stomachs, the other 
half would be wasted were it not for the hog which follows the cattle and 
the w^aste is thus transformed into pork. The hog and the cattle industry go 
together and furnish a considerable profit to the farmer. In good seasons 
the average farmer on 160 acres of good land is able to turn off a carload of 
cattle and a carload of hogs each year. The cattle are pastured on the graz- 
ing lands of the county. Tliey are fed in winter on the rough feed produced on 
the farmirig land, consisting of cornstalks, straw, millet, etc. The hogs are 
raised usually during the summer season and in autumn the two are placed 
together, the farmer secures the entire profit accruing to the man who raises 
the cattle, who raises the hogs, and who feeds them. Poland (^hina is by 
far the most popular breed of hogs, while Jersey Beds, Chester AN'hites and 
Berkshires are very abundant. 

In some of the valleys farmers have turned their attention to the raising 
of alfalfa. Thev are thus enabled to raise their voung swine at a very low 



306 PIONEER HISTOEY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

cost, and are only put into the yard to be finished. In 1887 Custer county 
shipped 32,640 hogs from the various stations of the railway within her bor- 
ders. Allowing for a reasonable number that were shipped from stations 
outside of Custer county, but contiguous thereto, it is safe to estimate the 
number of hogs at 50,000. The future of the swine industry of Custer county 
is very promising and it will always be one of the most important industries 
of the county. 



Raising ^Jors^s fnr J^rofit 



J. M. Scott. 



Perhaps there is no department of the farm where so many men fail as 
in this. The horse is fine in organism, spirited by nature, and requires most 
careful, intelligent and constant attention. There is no wider field in farm 
economics for the exercise of mature judgment and sound practical attain- 
ments than raising horses for profit. There are so many factors upon which 
the business depends that every man, before he enters upon it, should make a 
careful survey of the whole field and accurately weigh each proposition, and 
if possible determine whether or not he can meet all of its requirements. 
Every man should determine the amount of capital that will be required and 
whether he possesses it. The element of time must ever be uppermost. Can 
he wait for returns? It takes longer to get a developed horse on the market 
than any other farm animal. The expense measured in labor and money must 
be carefully estimated. Many men fail because they are unable to meet cur 
rent expenses and the result is invariably an inferior product. The necessary 
and best forage plants must not be lost sight of by the breeder, pure and 
abundant water is absolutely necessary to the horse's well-being, and at all 
times must be inaccessible to him. Well ventilated and clean stables sliould 
be prepared in order to prevent disease and to insure a healthy condition. 
Accessibility to good sires is quite necessary. The best sire accessible should 
be mated with your females if you improve your horses. The above are some 
of the more important items for the breeder to consider and he must meet 
their demands. Attention should be given to the demand of the market. 
Most men breed horses here, as elsewhere, to please their fancy, and when 
the time comes to market them they find their horses do not pay for the cost 
of production. They then conclude that the business is not profitable. This 
country is a grand country for the successful breeding of horses for profit. 
We have here an ideal climate, pure water, abundant and nutritious forage 
plants, dry soil and hardly any insect pests. 

To the farmer and breeder there should be but a single ideal, and that 
ideal should be the horse that will bring the greatest returns for the time and 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 307 



expense required for his prodiictiou and the labor necessary to break and fit 
him for the market. The horse that will bring the greatest returns for neces- 
sary expenditure is the horse that should be bred. To the farmer there can 
be but one class of profitable horses and that is the draft. In an agricultural 
country, as ours is, the constant demand will ever be for a large-sized, short- 
backed, strong, flat-legged, docile animal. The demand for useful farm horses 
in the great agricultural districts east of Nebraska will constantly increase 
as population thickens up in the already congested country. That market 
will absorb all our surplus horses for years to come. A farmer who has three 
or four large-sized brood mares can do his own work with them, can raise 
colts enough to take their places when they are sold or when they die, and 
still have a surplus for the market. The labor of breaking and fitting them 
for market is quite trifling, and attended with slight expense, and while this 
is being done the colt can be put to work and made to earn wiiat he eats. 

Few^ men possess sufficient means to experiment in breeding horses, or, 
for that matter, in any other kind of stock. No man can afford to breed trot- 
ting and runnning horses except a man of large means and unbounded leisure. 
Few farmers have either. The horse is the noblest animal God has given to 
man, and the higher bred, the more perfectly developed, the higher price he 
will command, but the farmer's business is to farm, to attend to his stock, 
and to carefully educate his children. As it requires years of hard study and 
close application to specialize upon any subject none but the rich can indulge 
their taste for breeding and developing fancy driving horses. A farmer must 
neglect other business in order to develop a horse and to bring him to a 
standard of excellence w'here he will bring a remunerative price for the time, 
labor and expense necessary to develop him. The successful man along this 
line has been so far an accident. Can we, as farmers, afford to risk our future 
upon so uncertain a proposition? I say no. Then let us breed nothing but 
first-class draft horses. Give them abundant and nutritious food, break them 
when colts when we have the most time to spare from our other work, work 
them carefully and when old enough finish them for market. Breeding for 
profit will then be a certainty. 



I^Duglaits ®vmt Hrrtgaftnn Mitlj. 



E. C. Gibbons. 



If the terrible drought of 1894 was responsible for the construction of 
the Douglass Grove irrigating ditch it has proven to be a blessing in disguise 
to the people of the Middle Loup valley, as it was in that year that the ditch 
was located, surveyed and active work commenced, and it was by means ob- 
tained by working on this ditch that a large number of the people of this 



398 



PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 



township were enabled to live through that ruemorable winter and to eke out 
a miserable existence until another crop could be raised. An attempt was 
made to induce the township to help in the woi-ic, a.« the sum asked to be 
voted would return to the taxpayers in remuneration for their work on the 




Flume on the Wescott Irrigation Ditch. 



ditch, and thus help all concerned; but this aid was refused and those living' 
under the proposed ditch were compelled to organize a company and vote 
bonds upon themselves to obtain money to carry on and complete the under- 
taking. I will say nothing about their repeated discouragements and failures, 
but after one of the most desperate struggles, like Bruce's spider, they over- 
came all obstar-ies and the ditch has been finished from the Sargent bridge 
to Spring creek at i^onglass Grove, a distance of thirteen and one-half miles, 
and covering an area of about 7,000 acres of valuable land. 

As this is the onh' canal in this section of the country that has been 
successfully completed and is now in successful operation, blessing its builders 
with it benefactions, it must be stated that its completion is due to the ure- 
niitting and untiring efforts of a very few men who stood by it through evil 
report as well as good report until it was an accomplished fact, and the won- 
derful results obtained from the use of the water it furnishes have compelled 
those who were hitherto lukewarm supporters to become the most enthusiastic 
and generous friends of the enterprise. The ditch company is at the present 
time officered as follows: E. C. (ribbons, president; W. H. Comstock, secre- 
tary; Charles Wescott, treasurer. 



AND SHOET SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



399 



M flip tljnnuil; fl;^ §an^ If 111$, 



We thought perhaps some of your readers might be interested in some of 
the country we have passed over, so have jotted down a few items. With our 
photo outfit we left Broken Bow for a run of six or seven weeks througli the 
sand hills of Cherrv county, Nebraska, among the cattle ranches. Our first 









i 












r 


\ 






1 
I 


■ 


' - * - 




M 


#?fe 


1 



Chas. Austin's Ranch on Bis Alkali Lake, Cherry County, Neb. 



stop was at West Star, in the beautiful Middle Loup valley, twenty-two miles 
north of Broken Bow, where a flouring mill is to be erected in the near future. 
Then northwest to Brewster, thirty miles, a small village on the North Loup 
river, ^^'est, on south side of the river, twelve miles, is the I. S. Northup 
ranch, one of the old land marks of Blaine county. We cross the river here 
and go northwest up Goose creek, which gradually widens out into a beautiful 
hay valley, with small cattle ranches about every three to five miles apart, 
they having claims on the valley to cut grass for winter and using the sand 
hills for range in the summer, making raising cattle easy. The first ranch in 
Cherr}' county is a small sheep ranch owned by John Good. Next is a sheep 
and cattle ranch, owned by the Wysong brothers. From here we arrive at a 
fine cattle ranch with about 400 cattle owned by the Body brothers. They 
range north several miles and southwest seven miles to the North Loup, 
where they have another ranch. From hei-e we go to the J. F. Chappels 
ranch, owning about 150 cattle with fine range. They own two claims and a 
school section. They cut about ."00 tons of hay on the opposite side of the 
valley. 



400 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

Northeast three-fourths of a mile is J. B. Stoll's ranch, with about oOO 
head of fine Shropshire sheep. He has five claims in the valley, with three 
miles of running water; cuts about 500 tons of hay. 

Thence northeast to the King ranch, running about 500 head of Short- 
horns and Herefords. Appearances indicate that Mr. King thoroughly under- 
stands the cattle business. 

Thence to the O. Keller ranch, who runs about 150 cattle and cuts 1,500 
tons of hay. Then to the Smith ranch, where about 500 head more cattle are 
found. Young Smith and his sister seem to be enjoying ranch life. 

From there we went northeast about thirty-five miles to the big Alkali 
lake, where is located the cattle ranch of C. A. Austin, one of Custer county's 
old pioneers, and one of the largest hearted men in Cherry county. Here we 
made our headquarters while canvassing the adjoining country, and we shall 
always remember with pleasure the days spent with Charles and his family. 

Mr. Austin and son, N. J., and son-in-law, H. S. Savage, have from 400 to 
500 head of very high-grade cattle, fifty head of registered Herefords, besides 
high-grade Durhams and Polled-Angus, and seventy head of horses. They cut 
400 tons of hay and have twenty miles of fence. Postoffice, Simeon. 

John A. Gee, well known in Custer county in 1878-9, is now a pros]>erou8 
ranchman near Kennedy with about 150 head of cattle. Postoffice, Kennedy. 

James Steadman came to Westerville, Cherry county, in 1879. Mrs. 
Steadman is now running a general store at Kennedy. Her four boys are all 
in the cattle business and prospering. 

C. F. Cooper, fine Shorthorn cattle, 200 head; cuts 400 tons of hay; seven 
miles of fence; is correspondent for the division of botany, Washington, D. 
C; has forty acres of red top; he claims it is a grand success. Postoffice, 
Oasis. 

Rake Ranch, Anderson & Rounds, on Dewey lake; 1,600 cattle, mostly 
Herefords; fifty miles of fence; cuts 2,500 tons hay. Postoffice, Simeon. 

We now come back to William S. Kennedy, northeast of Elsmere. Mr. 
Kennedy is an old Custer county man; settled ten miles west of Merna in 1883; 
is now located in Lakeland township. Brown county ; GOO head of cattle, Here- 
fords and Durhams; forty miles of fence; cuts 700 tons hay. 

Miss Emma Robertson is located a few miles southwest of 3Ir. Kennedy, 
on Goose creek, with a small bunch of fine sheep. Postoffice, Elsmere. 

About two miles further south is the Hinkson Bros, ranch; 600 head 
mixed cattle; Preston Hinkson, manager; cut 300 tons hay; the cattle raised 
in the sand hills and taken to Hall county, Nebraska, sixteen miles west of 
Grand Island, on a farm owned by the brothers to be fattened for market. 

C. W. Bennet ranch at Simeon, Cherry county; 600 head cattle, mostly 
Gallowavs and Herefords; cuts 900 tons hay; twenty miles fence; settled in 
1885. 

Spall Bros, ranch; 125 head cattle, thirty horses; cuts 600 tons hay; fifteen 
miles fence. Postoffice, Simeon, Cherry county, Nebraska. 

C. J. Rogers' ranch on Mud lake east of Big Alkali ; small bunch well- 
bred cattle; cuts 120 tons hay. Postoffice, Simeon. 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 



401 




Our Camp at font of Devil's^Slide, Cherry County, Neb., on Snake River. 



John ("roniii ranch, cast of Long hike, eighteen miles sonth of Vah'ntine; 
cuts 1,000 tons of hay; GOO head western and native catth'; twenty niih^s 
fence; Wood lake twelve miles. 

C. L.^ Latta, on Gordon creek; small hnncli of well-bred Tolled Angus 
cattle; 5,000 acres nnder fence; cuts 200 tons hay. Postoffice, Oasis. 

W. I). Morgareidge; 850 cattle, mostly Herefoids; cuts from five to eight 
hundred tons hay; twenty miles fence; north on (Jordon creek; seven miles 
lunning water. Postoffice, Simeon. 

John B. Lord, Triangle ranch, on Snake river, three miles from month; 
:'00 western cattle and high-grade Galloways; cuts three to four iumdred tons 
liay; seventeen miles fence. Postoffice, Simeon. 

Horse Head ranch, on Gordon creek; George N. Davis; 150 head native 
cattle; seventeen miles fence; cuts 500 tons hay. 

W. G. Ballard owns three ranches: No. 1. IJallard Maisli; Xo. 2, Mule 
Lake; No. 8, at mouth of Gordon creek; 1,000 <altle. 800 horses; ciils 8.000 tcnis 
hay; seventy-five miles fence. Postoffice, Simeon. 



402 PIONEER HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY 

David Hannah, on Marsh lake, twenty miles south of Wood lake; 1,400 
head Herefords and Shorthorns; cuts 2,500 tons hay; fifty miles fence. 

Kennedy, Cherry County, Neb., Jan. i;>, 1900. — We started from William 
Errickson's, three miles west of Kennedy, Cherry county, Nebraska. This 
lanch is located on (lordon creek, about seventy-five miles from the head 
waters. Mr. p]rrickson is a prosperous ranchman, has 000 head of cattle, 
controls about one township of land and cuts about 1,000 tons of hay. His 
lanjie is north on Bordman creek and on the Snake river, two of the most 
beautiful streams in the state. IJordnum creek is stocked with salmon trout, 
which is the ranchman's delight. 

Kennedy is a beautiful little village, having a general store, livery and 
feed stable, hotel and blacksmith shop. It has a daily mail from Valentine, 
northeast about forty-five miles, and one from Thedford, southeast fifty miles. 
The ranclimen here are talking of running a telephone line to Valentine from 
Kennedy. K successful it will be extended to Pass, a distance of fifteen miles 
southeast to a ranch owned by the Standard Cattle Company, who have 
already fifty-two miles of telephone line connecting their ranches, and extend- 
ing to Pullman and to Carver ranches west. This company expects this sum- 
mer to extend their line from Pullman, their present headquarters, to Whit- 
man, southeast about forty miles. This telephone system is destined to be one 
of the greatest conveniences the cattlemen will have, and soon all the ranches 
will be connected, which will save them thousands of dollars annually. Mr. 
Errickson went with us as a guide. 

We made our first stop at M. Dunhamn's ranch, two miles west up the 
Gordon. Mr. D. has about 150 head of cattle, controls about two sections of 
land, cuts about 100 tons of hay. 

The next stop was at the Bachelor ranch, about two miles northeast on 
ihe Bordman. This ranch controls about seven miles of hay land on the Bord- 
man valley and about one township of land. Tin- land is fenced and cross- 
fenced. He runs about 1,000 head of Shorthorn cattle, has frame buildings, 
and can cut probably 1,500 tons of hay. 

From here northeast we go to the Nels Rowley ranch, with about 500 head 
of Polled-Angus cattle, on the Bordman. He cuts from six to eight hundred 
tons of hay and controls about five miles of running water and about ten sec- 
tions of land. 

The Ball ranch is three miles northwest, up a beautiful hay valley; runs 
from 1,500 to 2.000 head of cattle, Herefords and Shorthorns; they cut prob- 
ably 000 tons of hay and range 31, 32 and 33, about eighteen miles long. 

Southwest four miles is the W. E. Waite ranch on Bordman creek. Mr. 
Waite has about nine hay claims, cuts 1,500 tons of hay, is well fitted with 
frame buildings suitable for a fine cattle ranch, but no cattle at present. 
Here is the end of the Kennedy and Valentine mail route postoflice, Chester- 
field. 

Next is a bachelor by the name of Charles Lilebi'ink, who has a claim 
south half mile, has a few cattle. From here up the IJordman to one of the 
Crlespie Bros, and Stutter ranches, where they are wintering about 600 hea<l 
of mixed cattle. From here we went to their home ranch, ''Arkansaw Bob" 



AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA. 403 



and his bi-otlior, Jim, iakin.^ j^rcat jilcasnrc in sliowin;^' iis over thoii- oxtensive 
ranch. Tiiey have altont 1,0(10 head of cattle at the lioiue ranch, cut about 
1,500 tons of hay. This rancli is located on the Bordnian. Their range is on 
the Oordcni, Hordnian creek and Snake river. 

Southeast four miles is Mr. Farnam's pla(;e, a small, well (odo lanchman 
with about thirty-five head of cattle on the (Jordon creek. 

Soul Invest three miles is Mr. Ckuuens, a siiuUl ranchm.m with about fifty 
head of fine Shorthorn cattle. From hert- back northeast on (lordon creek, 
about two miles, is the Gorsuch Bros, ranch, who have about 200 head of 
Shorthorns and Herefords. 

West up Gordon creek about three miles is the Newton postofllice. on the 
I. W. Russell &: Son ranch, which is quite a fine place, with several hundred 
head of cattle. Mr. R. claims 600 tons of hay on two quarter sections of land ; 
do not know the amount on the ranch. ' 

From there, four miles northwest, is the Charles Kime ranch, trimmed up 
with frauu^ house and many modern improvements. He has prob.ably 200 head 
of Shorthorn and Hereford cattle. 

South one mile is the G. W. Ladely ranch; Shorthorn and Hereford cattle, 
about 800 in nnmber. He controls the range from the Gordon to the north 
fork of the North Loup, a distance of seven miles. 

Twelve miles southwest is Pullman postoffice, where is located the head- 
quarters of the Standard Cattle Company. 

Northeast two miles is the A. Burr ranch, one of the most prosperous 
small ranchers in the state, running about 500 head of mostly Shorthorn cattle. 
Mr. Burr is one of the county commissioners of Cherry county. 

Six miles northeast is the Carver ranch, the home of the Standard Cattle 
Company, who have been putting in many modern improvements. They liave 
installed as cook, Billy Simmons, one of Custer county's most popular bache- 
lors. We photographed Billy and his dogs. One of these dogs, a bloodhound 
by the name of Jess, cost the company $250. 

Four miles northeast is the Phil Pullman ranch, another Standard Cat- 
tle Company ranch. This company has about 7,000 cattle distributed at their 
different ranches, fifty-two miles of telephone, controls about fifty miles of 
North Loup river. 

The Charley Hoyt ranch is about fifteen miles southwest from Pullman. 
This is a fine place and Mr. Hoyt has about 500 head of fine cattle, controls 
about .one township of land. 

Southeast four miles is Wright's ranch, with a nice little bunch of cattle. 
From here back to Pulhuan, where we photographed Mr. John Porter, fore- 
man of the Standard Cattle Company, and his little span of Shetland ponies. 

Northeast is the Tearing ranch three miles. Mr. Yearing runs about 400 
head of cattle, has about nine claims valued at |1,500, each cutting about 
1,500 tons of hay. From here we return to Mi-. Erickson's. From here to 
the Steadman ranch, ten miles south of Kennedy, situated on the head of 
Wanmaduc(- creek. This is a beaiilifiil hay country. Mr. Steadman cuts about 
2,000 tons of hav; summers about :',,000 head of cattle. 



Uni 



nion i 




Pacifi 



TO ALL 



PICTO^ 
"THE OVERLAND ROUTE" is the most 

DIRECT LINE FROM 

THE MISSOURI RIVER 
PRINCIPAL POINTS WEST 



And on account of the varied character of the country it tr(tverse.i, offers to those who confeniplatt 
going West a more (jreatl;/ diversified territori/ to select from than does any other 

TRANSCONTINENTAL LINE 




Passing as it does through or reaching 

via its connections, Nebraslta, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, 

Montana, Oregon and Washington, 

every Business Interest is to be found along its Line. 

FOR THE FARMER, llimisands of acres of rich agricultural land are yet open for settlement. 

FOR THE STOCK RAISER, immense areas of excellent grazing lands can yet be secured. 

FOR THE MINER, the ureal moiinlains of the West airail lint the opening to become the source 
(if large fortiDtes, and 

FOR THE BUSINESS MAN, tlie growing cities and tonvis of the West are daily offering un- 
equaled opportunities for innstment of capital and location of industries which are ^uisurpassed 
by older sections of the United States. 

For pamphlets descriptive of the above-named States or any iiiforinatiou relative to the 
Union Pacific, call on your nearest agent or address 



E. L. LOMAX 



OMAHA, NEBRASKA 



GENERAL PASSENGER AND TICKET AGENT 



■^<> Ill I ll lIllM.lllI .Ill Il ll ll I llll I |||M„U|| llll».,.|llll.,„lllllK>lllll„Mlll Il I Ill, I ,||| I Ill, Ill, IhlHlllk 

i BROKEN BOW f 



lumnes. 



torinal ^©ZZsgg, i- 



i BROKEN BOW, NEBRASKA. L 

3 Embraciiia the Followincj Courses ot Stiidu: f 

1 Business Course, Stenography Course, Normal Course, Telegraphy, f 
1 Combination Course, Normal Pen Art. [ 




mmm-^^m-^^^^m-^^^<§^^-^-^m-^-^m-^-:§-:^ 



j Complete in every detail, where an ambitious young- man or woman 

J can acquire the best possible Business or Normal training- at a small cost. 

_J Our College Bases its Claim for patronage upon ^ 

4 Its Convenient Location, Its Superior Facilities, Its ftbie Faciiltij, 

1 find tlie Tliorough Training it Gives its Graduates, 

1 Who are qualified to successfully enter an active business life. 

1 Any information desired will be cheerfully furnished upon request, 

J Tkrms akk Rkasonablk. Instruction thic Bkst. 

i m INSTITUTION WITH ft FftCULTY OF SIX. 

J Students are cared for the same as if they were home. Write us. 

J Very Truly Yours, 

i C. TV. ROUSir. President. 

■^l"""l|l |l I||I""H| I||i' I i|| |l""ll|l I||i""i||l i||P"'"l|l I 'Min""l| I|M I ||i""i|) i|| l|l""M|||i"iil||i'""|||i ||l> ||i""l||| 



ilfr- 



through Colorado and Utah 

On tb^ Denver <$■ t^io Grande l^ailroad the scenic line of the 




N 1858 the Pike's Peak gold ex- 
citement caused a rush from 
the East to Colorado, and a 
camp was pitched at the June 
tion of Cherry Creek and the 
Platte River, which shortly 
after was christened Auraria. Prom this 
small beginnino; sprang Denver, the ''Queen 
City of the Plains." This beautiful metrop- 
olis of Colorado is the first point of interest 
to the tourist from the East. 

The stretch of two hundred miles of snow 
capped mountains to the west gives the visi- 
tor who intends to cross the range a foretaste 



health resort, and its fame as a sanitarium 
is widespread and thoroughly deserved. 

Manitou is but five miles distant from 
Colorado Springs, being connected l)y both 
railroad and electric lines. Of all nature's 
lovel.y spots, few equal and none surpass in 
beauty of location, grandeur of surroundings 
and sublimity of scenery this veritable "gem 
of the Rockies." As a pleasure resort, it 
presents to the tourist more objects of scenic 
interest than any resort of a like character 
in the Old or New World, while its wonder 
ful effervescent and mineral springs — soda 
and iron— make it the favorite resting-place 




MARSHALL PASS 



of the scenes to come on this never-to-be-^ 
forgotten trip. Leaving Denver on the Den- 
ver & Rio Grande Raih-oad, the mountains 
are gradually approached until Palmer Lake 
is reached. This beautiful sheet of water is 
located about midway between Denver and 
Pueblo, upon what is called "The Divide." 
The delightful little city of Colorado 
Springs is next approached. This is essen- 
tially a city of homes, where the families of 
many of the most influential business men 
of the state reside. It was laid out as a 



for invalids. Manitou is situated immedi 
ately at tlie foot of Pike's Peak, the summit 
of which may be attained on foot, on horse- 
back, or l)y rail. The last named, "the cog 
wheel route," is, of course, the most popular, 
two round trips a day being made during 
the summer months. 

Returning to Colorado Springs and con 
tinning southward, Pueblo is next reached. 
This is the second city of Colorado, and is 
noted for its great iron and steel industry, 
as well as its important smelters for the ore 



which is brought down from the mountains, 
h^very tourist should make it a point to stop 
off and inspect tliese works, which have 
given to Pueblo the name of the "Pittsburg 
of the West." 

At Pueblo a turn to the westward is made, 
and in a short time the thriving commercial 
town of Florence appears, with its numerous 
derricks, this being the great oil region of 
Colorado. 

A few miles further on is Canon City, situ- 
ated at the eastern end of the Grand Caiion 
of the Arkansas. From this point a direct 
connection is made for the great gold-min- 
ing region of Cripple Creek. 

Just beyond Cafion City the railroad en- 
ters the Grand Canon of the Arkansas, the 
narrowest portion of which is known as the 
Royal Gorge. When tirst examined it seemed 
impossible that a railway could ever be con- 
structed through this stupendous canon to 
Leadville and the West. There was scarcely 
room for the river alone, and granite ledges 
blocked the path with their mighty bulk. 
In time, however, these obstructions were 
blasted away, and to-day the canon is a well- 
used thoroughfare. But its grandeur still 
remains. After entering its depths, the train 
moves slowly along the side of the Arkansas 
and around projecting shoulders of dark- 
hued granite, deeper and deeper into the 
heart of the range. The crested crags grow 
higher, the river madly foams along its rocky 
bed, anon the way becomes a mere fissure 
through the heights. Far above the road 
the sky firms a deep blue arch of light; but 
in the gorge hang dark and somber shades 




which the sun's rays have never penetrated. 
Herd the granite cliffs are one thousand feet 
high, smooth and unbroken by tree or shrul), 
and there a pinnacle soars skyward for thrice 
that distance. No tiowers grow, and the birds 
care not to penetrate the .solitude. The 
river, somber and swift, breaks the awful 
stillness with its roar. 

Soon the cleft becomes still more narrow, 
the treeless cliff's higher, the river closer 
confined, and, where a long iron bridge 
hangs suspended from the smooth walls, the 
grandest portion of the canon is reached. 
Escaping from the gorge, the narrow valley 
of the upper Arkansas is traversed, with the 
striking serrated peaks of the Sangre de 
Cristo close at hand on the west, until 
Salida is reached. 

From this point the tourist can continue 
westward over Marshall Pass or northwest- 
erly toward Leadville, which is one of the 
most interesting cities in the world to the 
tourist. It is the highest in the United 
States, its elevation being 10,200 feet above 
sea level. Here will be found the best 
opportunity for visiting some of the mines 
that have made Colorado famous. 

Leaving Leadville, the ascent of Tennessee 
Pass is made and soon Eagle River Canon 
is entered. Nowhere can the traveler find 
a more interesting and instructive illustra- 
tion of mine methods than is here presented 
by the shaft-scarred sides of Battle Moun 
tain and the pinnacle-perched eyries of 
Eagle River Canon. 

The cafion of the Grand River is ap- 
proached through the Valley of the Eagle. 
Gradually the val- 
ley narrows, high 
bluffs hem us in on 
the left, the river 
is close to the track 
on the right, and its 
fertile banks sud- 
denly change into 
a tumbled, twisted, 
black, and blasted 
exjianse of scoria. 
The few trees on 
the hither side of 
the stream are also 
black, an inheri- 
tance of fire, the 
waters under the 
black banks and re- 
flecting the black- 
ened trees, take on 
a swarthy hue — a 
Stygian picture ! 
Just beyond, a dis- 
tant glimpse of fer- 
tile courtry, and 
the clear waters of 

EAGLE EIVEE 
CANON 



the Eagle are lost in the muddy current 
of the Grand and a canon greater in 
extent and more varied in character than 
that of the Arkansas opens l)efore us. Sug- 
gestions of the sphinx and of the pyramids 
can be caught in the severe and gigantic 
rock-piled structures on every hand. These 
are not made up of boulders, nor are they 
solid monoliths, like those in the Royal 
Gorge. On the contrary, they are columns, 
bastions, buttresses, walls, pyramids, towers, 
turrets, even statues of stratified stone, with 
sharp cleavage, not in the least weather- 
worn, presenting the appearance of Brob- 
dignagian masonry. But we leave Egypt, 
with her shades of gray and her frowning, 
massive and gigantic forms. We are in a 
region of glowing colors, where the vermil- 
lion, the maroon, the green and the yellow 
abound and mingle apd contrast. What 
strange country was the prototype of this? 
Ah I yonder is something characteristic — a 
terraced pyramid bounded with brilliant 
and varied colors — the teocali of the Aztecs. 
Whirling around a headland of glowing red 
rock, which it seems ought to be called 
"Flamingo Point," we are in a region of 
ruddy color and of graceful forms. Minarets, 
spires, towers, columns, airy pinnacles, infi- 
nite in variety, innumerable, indescribable. 

We now arrive at Glenwood Springs, 
which is the county-seat of Garfield County, 
and is situated at the junction of the Grand 
and Roaring Fork Rivers. Here the tourist 
finds himself in a valley or park, fully 5,000 
feet above sea-level, protected on every side 
by lofty mountains, which holds within its 
limits a series of hot sulphur springs burst- 
ing out of the mountain rocks and forming 
lakes of large proportions, making natural 
bathing places which, by artificial means 
have been rendered very convenient for the 
use of man. 

Leaving Glenwood Springs and continu- 
ing westward along the ever- widening Grand 
River, the city of Grand Junction is soon 
reached. This is the point at which the 
standard and narrow-gauge lines of the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad meet. Leav- 
ing Grand Junction, the richly colored 
Book Cliffs come ioto view, while away to 
the southward the snowy groups of the 
Sierra la Sal and San Rafael glisten in the 
distance. Between them may be distin- 
guished the broken walls which mark the 
Grand Canon of the Colorado, scar(;ely fifty 
miles away. 

Space will not permit mention of all the 
many points of interest to be seen before 
Salt Lake City is reached. This, the inter 
esting city by the great salt sea, is in a veri- 
table garden. Low and picturesque adobe 
houses harmonize in their cool, (juiet tones 



with the extensive orchards of fruit and gar 
dens of flowers which surround them, and 
the business blocks in the center of the city 
are imposing and strong. Back upon a 
"bench," and several hundred feet above the 
city, is Fort Douglas, the flag of the republic 
standing out in bright relief against the Wa- 
satch. Strong and rapid mountain streams 
come rushing through the canons and are 
led into the city where the clear, cold, limpid 
waters sing a pleasant song as they sport 
and play along the sides of the streets, where 
they are conducted through the entire city. 
The great object of interest to the tourist 
and stranger is Temple Square; here are 
situafpd the great ecclesiastical buildings 
of the Mormon Church. 

The return trip from Salt Lake City may 
be made through Gunnison and toward the 
world-famed Marshall Pass. Gradually the 
view becomes less obstructed by mountain 
sides, and the ej e roams over miles of cone- 
shaped summits. The timberless tops of 
towering ranges show that one is among the 
heights, in a region familiar with the clouds. 
Slowly the steeps are conquered, until at 
last the train halts upon the summit of Mar- 
shall Pass. A halt of ten minutes or so gives 
an opportunity to ascend to the observatory 
constructed above the station, which eleva 
tion commands a view of both Atlantic and 
Pacific Slopes, one of the most inspiriuif 
views on the continent. 




THE EOVAL 
GORGE 



^J^ 



Union Stock Yards 



December 31st, 1900, closed tlie seventeenth year's business of the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha, 
and where, in the spring of 1S84, was simply a cluster of farms, has been built up one of the best appointed 
and most commodious stock yards, five mammoth packing lumses and several smaller enterprises, through 
whicii employment is given to a large number of people, created a town which, starting as a village, has 
grown into a thriving city of over 2o,OiO inhabitants, all of whom, directly or indirectly, derive their income 
from these industries, which have grown in importance until ranking thirtl in the list of packing centers of 
tlie world. With a natural location uneciualled by any other point in this country as central for receiving 
live stock, or the raw material, and as a distributing point for both the product of this industry and for 
feeders to the great corn belt of the central west, it enjoys facilities not found elsewhere, and which have been 
the secret of its rapid strides into prominence. Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, the four leading corn- 
producing stales of the west, surround this common center and find a market here for their finished stock, 
while it is at the same time the nearest great market to the ranges of Colorado, Wyoming, lUah, Nevada, the 
Dakotas, Montana, Oregon, Idaho and Indian Territory, which furnish yearly almost unlimited supplies of 
both cattle and sheep to be slaughtered liere. These four great corn feeding states all look to this market for 
their supplies of feeding cattle, which are furnished to them for feeding purposes in unlimited c^uantities by 
tlie great western and northwestern ranges. 

The present capacity of the yards is estimated at 620 cars of cattle, 1.5,000 head; 375 cars of hogs, 25,000 
head; 70 double decks of slieep, 15,000 head; and .50 cars of horses, l.OOU head. FiiUy eighty acri>s are now 
covered with pens, barns, sheds and other buildings reciuisite for carrying on the business, while fully twenty 
acres more are grad(^dand being covered rapidly with pens and sheds. The whole is surrounded liy a network 
of tracks and switches, which tracks are owned by the stock yards company, who, with their own locomotives 
and train crews, handle all of the stock, both coming in and going out, as well as all of the stock yards and 
packing house siipplies and product, which insures the most careful and satisfactory service. v\ hile the 
handling of cattle and hogs was receiving so much attention, the development of the sheep industry was not 
overlooked, and the completion of a sheep barn and dipping plant have increased the business .300 per cent, and 
added a large amount of tiTritory to that already aciiuired. The barn accommodates 15,000 sheep, is a mam- 
moth fire-Proof structtire covering .50,000 square feet where, under one roof, are scales, sorting pens, complete 
feed station and everything necessary to the rapid transaction of business. The supply of water for the use 
of both the yards and packing houses is furnished from the city mains, is always adequate, and as is well 
known, being taken from the Missouri river, cannot be excelled. Every pen is supplied with a trough and 
liydrant, so that under no circumstances is stock at any time obliged to either be moved or go without. Care- 
ful attention has been paid to the sewerage and drainage, resulting in as perfect and complete a system as is 
known anywhere in the country. No charge whatever is made for the use of the yards, and one charge for 
weighing, usually called yardage, covers the whole cost to the shipper, no matter how long his stock may 
remain on the market, and the weighing charge is only collected when stock is sold, so that if it is shipped 
from this market to some other by him. the only expense to be incurred here is for such an amount of feed as 
may be given to the stock by his orders. 

Starting in 1884 and 1885 with a small frame plant built for The G. H. Hammond Company by the stock 
yards company the packing industries have steadily grown in size, completeness and in theniimberof products 
manufactured" until at the close of 1900 there were five complete plants in ojieration, the Cudahy Packing 
Company, .Swift and Company, The Hammond Packing Company, the Omaha Packing Company and Armour 
& Company. These five packing houses are as finely equipped as any in the country and are making yearly 
additions as the increasi^ of their business demands. With an aggregate slaughtering capacity of 10,000 cattle, 
25,000 hogs and 8,000 sheep per day, which gives employment to 7, .500 men, these five houses turn out an 
enormous product, going to all parts of the world and taking a large territory to furnish them supplies, but 
good prices and the Ijest of facilities for handling all stock received is constantly opening up new territory, all 
finding a ht)me market much more advantageous to ship to. 

Tlie horse and mule department is rapidly forging to the front as one of the principal features of the 
market, the business for 1900 being one hundred per cent greater than for the preceding year. Handsome 
brick barns, well ventilated and lighted, have been erected, and one of the finest pavilions in the country 
for the accommodation of all those attending sales, of which three are held weekly, are among its attractions. 
There are numiH-ous buyers from the east, north and south constantly on the market, and prices realized have 
been fully up to the best paid at more eastern or southern markets. 



Till! commission ukmi are as follows: 



Geo. Adams A: Burke Co. 

N. E. Acker & Co. 

Joseph Bliss. 

Brainard, Richardson & Carpenter. 

Byers Brothers ifc Co. 

George Burke Co. 

F. Chittenden & Co. 

Clay, Robinson k Co. 

Clifton Com. Co. 

Cooper Com. Co. 

Cox, Jones Com. Co. 

W. F. Denny ct Co. 

Allen Dudh'y & Co. 

Evans-Snider-Buel Co. 

Flato Commission Co. 



Garrow & Laverty Bros. 

Gilchrest, Haniia & t o. 

Sam (xosney L. S. Com. Co. 

Geo. B. Green. 

Hulsman & Dille. 

Ingvversen Brothers. 

Jackson, Higgins & Co. 

Kelly Com. Co. 

Knollin & Booth. 

Mallory Com. Co. 

Martin Bros. & Co. 

McCloud-Love Live Stock Com. Co, 

A. A. Nixon. 

Nye & Buchanan Co. 



Paddock, Cotner & Lattin. 

Parkhurst & Hopper. 

T. D. Perrine cV: Co. 

W. J. Perry L. S. Com. Co. 

Ralston i Fonda. 

Roberts Bros. 

L. E. Roberts & Co. 

Rosenbaum Bros, vt Co. 

Shelly A Rogers. 

Draper Smith. 

Timet Bros. 

A. Waggoner & Co. 

Williams & Sons. 

Wood Brothers. 



